Department for Transport

Railways: South West

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to On Track – the 20 year plan, published by the Peninsula Rail Task Force on October 2015, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on allocating funding for work to decrease journey times between Plymouth and Exeter.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to On Track – the 20 year plan, published by the Peninsula Rail Task Force on October 2015, what discussions he has had with Network Rail on decreasing journey times between Plymouth and Exeter.

Joseph Johnson: The Secretary of State has regular discussions on a variety of matters with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Network Rail. Development of projects that deliver journey time improvements in the southwest peninsula are included in Network Rail’s recently published Strategic Business Plan for Control Period 6 (2019-2024). The Government expects to announce details of the process for determining new rail infrastructure enhancements in CP6 shortly. My Department will respond to the Peninsula Rail Task Force imminently.

Ports

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the land connectivity of UK ports.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department is currently undertaking a Port Connectivity Study to examine the current level of road and rail access to ports in England, how connectivity issues are managed, and what future development plans ports hold that may impact on that connectivity. The Study is due to be published shortly.Government transport investment plans also recognise the importance of port connectivity. The first Road Investment Strategy put in place plans for infrastructure schemes with access benefits for key ports, whilst investment on rail sees specific freight schemes being taken forward that will have benefits for ports. Rail investment between 2019 and 2024 will include funding for continued investment in the rail freight network, which could be used to fund improved connectivity to ports. Planning for the second Road Investment Strategy is underway and Highways England have highlighted connectivity to international gateways as one of the 4 key strategic economic roles in their Strategic Road Network Initial Report published in December 2017.

Bus Services: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase bus usage in Cornwall.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Bus Services Act 2017 presents local authorities with new powers to bring about change, and unlock the potential for the bus industry to increase passenger numbers. In particular, new Enhanced Partnership and Advanced Quality Partnership powers provide the framework for authorities to work side by side with operators to set a shared vision for bus services in their area. Bus Open Data powers will require bus operators in England to open up route and timetable, fares and tickets and real time information for passengers by 2020. These improvements aim to remove uncertainty in bus journeys, improve journey planning and help passengers secure best value tickets. Accessible Information powers will require all operators of local bus services to provide audio and visual route and next stop announcements on board buses across Great Britain, helping to remove barriers to bus travel particularly for those with disabilities or accessibility needs.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the outcome was of discussions between his Department, HS2 Ltd and the cycle-proofing working group on HS2 Ltd’s design standards.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Following discussions between my Department’s officials, HS2 Ltd and the Cycle Proofing Working Group (CPWG), HS2 Ltd has shared extracts of its relevant design standards with the CPWG, setting out the obligations and expectations on designers to apply specific cycling standards and guidelines. The discussions also addressed how HS2 Ltd is discharging commitments given to the Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC), now Cycling UK.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has assessed HS2 Ltd’s design standards for temporary and permanent changes to on-and off-road highway infrastructure against (a) Transport for London’s London cycling design standards and (b) the Welsh Government’s Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 design standards.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 Ltd’s contractors are required to comply with HS2’s technical standards during the design of all works associated with the HS2 programme. HS2’s Technical Standard for Roads specifically refers to Transport for London's London Cycle Design Standards and the Welsh Government's Design Guidance: Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013. HS2 Ltd’s technical standards also include good design practice guidance from other established industry design standards.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department’s cycle-proofing working group has identified locations where cycle access along or across the HS2 corridor should be maintained or enhanced.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: In 2013, the Department commissioned a feasibility study into the potential for new and improved cycle routes within the HS2 corridor. The outputs of the study have been shared with relevant local authorities and will be discussed at future meetings of the Cycle Proofing Working Group.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Cycling

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps HS2 Ltd has taken to ensure the safety (a) of cyclists in relation to the design of lorries, (b) awareness of lorry drivers and (c) accreditation of lorry operators involved in HS2-related contracts.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 Ltd has set clear requirements for its supply chain to follow, as set out in the HS2 Phase 1 Route-wide Traffic Management Plan. These requirements include:- a) Vehicles attending worksites are required to comply with the Construction Logistics and Community Safety (CLOCS) standard with regard to the fitment and operation of safety equipment. Principal contractors are required to show how they will provide and operate vehicles which minimise ground clearance, remove blind spots, prevent underrunning and address driver visibility. b) Construction drivers regularly accessing HS2 construction sites are required to demonstrate that they have attended accredited courses in work-related road risk driver training, rural driver training and fuel efficiency training. c) Principal contractors are required to adhere to a quality standard, such as the Freight Operator Recognition Scheme, and to show how standards will be implemented through their supply chain.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support highway authorities on the HS2 route to provide joined-up cycling infrastructure.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: A feasibility study into the potential for new and improved cycle routes in the HS2 corridor was commissioned in 2013. The Department has made the outputs from this study available to relevant highway authorities. These include a volume of potential designs for additional cycle links between sites of interest in proximity to the route of the railway. Authorities are encouraged to incorporate these into their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans where appropriate. The Department recently allocated £30m to Local Authorities along the Phase One route for them to spend on road safety. It is for local authorities to determine their local priorities, but the Department has encouraged them to consider funding cycling projects where appropriate.

Public Transport: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) rail and (b) bus links in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) Tyne and Wear and (iv) the North East.

Joseph Johnson: My Department is committed to improving both rail and bus links across the whole North East, including in Jarrow, South Tyneside and Tyne and Wear. The Northern and TransPennine Express rail franchises will deliver brand-new and refurbished-as-new trains, including the replacement of all Pacer trains by 2020. From 2019, new hourly Transpennine Express services will run between Newcastle and Glasgow, and twice hourly high quality Northern Connect services will run between Middlesbrough and Carlisle via Newcastle. In the Autumn Budget the Chancellor committed £337m towards the new rolling stock for the Tyne and Wear Metro from 2021. This is in addition to the £229 million the Department is contributing towards the operational cost of the Metro to 2019/20, and the £317 million contribution to the reinvigoration and asset renewal programme which ends in 2020/21. Over £1.9 million of asset renewal funding, along with £9.4 million of Local Growth Funding, is being used as a contribution to the £21 million development of a new bus and metro interchange in the centre of South Shields. The Transforming Cities Fund announced in the Autumn Budget has provided £840million to the six mayoral combined authorities. The remainder will be allocated by competition to other English Cites and could provide further funding for public transport improvements in in the North East. The Bus Services Act received Royal Assent in April 2017 and provides new powers for local authorities to improve bus services. Regulations and guidance are now being published to allow for stronger partnership working; bus franchising powers for metro mayors; and better information on fares and routes for bus passengers.

Transport: Children

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the accessibility of railways, buses, coaches and trams for small children.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government is committed to making the transport system accessible to all users, including small children. The draft Accessibility Action Plan, published for consultation last year, set out a number of steps we will be taking across transport modes. The Equality Act 2010 makes provision for operators of public transport services to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate passengers who share protected characteristics, which include age and pregnancy & maternity. Mainline trains must comply with standards for vehicle design to make them more accessible to persons of reduced mobility, which includes babies and children. Currently 78% of the mainline rail fleet meet these standards, and work is underway to improve this. In addition, 75% of rail journeys are covered by step-free stations, while stations are also covered by design standards that take into account persons of reduced mobility. Buses, taxis and private hire vehicles provide an invaluable service for many people, and it is essential that they meet the needs of those wishing to use them. Some bus operators have invested in vehicles with additional space for buggies and prams, beyond the minimum accessibility requirements, and we encourage taxi licensing authorities to ensure that vehicle fleets work for a range of passengers.

Network Rail: Property

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, the value of property sold by Network Rail in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: The figures for the last three years are as follows: 2016/17: £91m2015/16: £75m2014/15: £33m The figures above represent the sale proceeds less any costs associated with selling the property.

Driving Tests

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including first aid in the driving test.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) includes first aid information in its study materials for both the theory and practical driving tests. In addition, the theory part of the driving test includes questions about first aid. Introducing a test on first aid into the practical driving test would lengthen the test, resulting in fewer tests per day, longer waiting times for tests and higher cost. The Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) for vocational drivers includes first aid training, and there are 130 CPC approved courses that are wholly first aid courses.

Urban Areas: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish a Smart City narrative and action plan.

Jesse Norman: The Government recognises that there are many potential benefits to be realised from smart transport innovations, across all modes. We also recognise that the Department for Transport has a role to play in ensuring that the most effective innovations are identified and introduced in ways that are legal, safe and maximise the benefits to society. The Department has a diverse programme of activities underway to fulfil that role. This includes various research projects being funded through Innovate UK, and through the Catapult Centres, and a data discovery project to test whether local transport network planners, operators and users would benefit from local transport data that is more widely shared, accessible and conforms to agreed standards. The Department is also working with other Government departments, high technology industries, academics and researchers to identify opportunities for collaboration to encourage the use of smart transport innovations. We will consider how best to share the results of this work with local areas in order to support them in using these innovations. The Department does not have a single Smart Cities model for local areas to follow, and it is for them, and their transport operators and suppliers, to determine local priorities and solutions.

Transport: Statistics

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish its big data scoping study; and whether any external bodies were consulted on the creation of the big data scoping study.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The scoping study was published in September 2017 and can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-benefits-from-big-data-and-the-internet-of-things-in-smart-cities The study was conducted by an external consultancy who engaged with a range of stakeholders including academics, data experts, cities/local authorities, transport operators, SMEs and industry.

Road Traffic Offences: Mobile Phones

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle mobile phone use by motorists; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government increased the penalties for drivers using hand held mobile phones in March 2017. The Highway Code and the THINK! campaign alerts drivers to the dangers of engaging in this reckless activity. It is too soon to assess what impact the change in penalties is having on road safety. The Department is currently conducting a roadside observational survey on usage of mobile phones and expects the results soon. The Government is keeping the law under review.

Heathrow Airport: Nitrogen Oxides

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the reduction in total emissions of nitrogen oxides from ground-based sources associated with Heathrow Airport between 2008-9 and 2012-13.

Jesse Norman: The government has not made an estimate. However, Table E1 of Ricardo-AEA Ltd’s report “Heathrow Airport 2013 Air Quality Assessment” commissioned by Heathrow Airport shows that emission rates of nitrogen oxides from airport and non-airport sources declined over the period 2008/9 to 2013. The report is available at http://www.heathrowairwatch.org.uk/reports

Cycling: Accidents

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have died or suffered serious injuries where the cause has been attributed to poorly-maintained roads by (a) local councils, (b) Highways England, (c) Transport Scotland and (d) the Welsh Government in each year since 2007.

Jesse Norman: The numbers of reported cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that have been recorded in Great Britain for each year since 2007 where poorly maintained roads could be considered to be a contributory factor is provided in the table. A breakdown for all the road networks specified is not available centrally. Reported cyclist serious and fatal injuries in GB where poorly maintained roads is reported as a contributory factor1Poor or defective road surface Inadequate or masked signs or road markingsYearReported Cyclist FatilitiesReported Cyclist Serious InjuriesReported Cyclist FatilitiesReported Cyclist Serious Injuries200721505200801807200912905201062508201134214201234103201313811120141550102015145011201646007Source: DfT STATS19 reported road casualties 1 Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. In 2016, this related to 73% of reported accidents. By way of context, cycling in Great Britain has increased over the time period in question, rising from 4 billion kilometres in 2007 to 6 billion kilometres in 2016. It should be that noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene. Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included. A total of 73% of accidents reported to the police in 2016 met these criteria although each accident can have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.

Department for Education

Sex and Relationship Education: Marriage

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to ensure guidance and regulations on Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools makes reference to marriage; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Children and Social Work Act (2017) places a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to make relationships education mandatory in all primary schools, and relationships and sex education mandatory in all secondary schools, in England. The Act also provides a power for the Secretary of State to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic education, or elements therein mandatory in all schools in England. The Department has conducted the first stage of a thorough engagement process. As part of this process, the Department has received more than 20,000 responses to the call for evidence. The evidence collected will help determine the content of the regulations and statutory guidance. The Department will ensure the subjects are designed to safeguard and support pupils whilst also being deliverable for schools. The Departments expect the guidance to reflect issues relating to marriage and civil partnerships, such as the value of strong and stable relationships based on commitment. The draft regulations and guidance will be subject to a full public consultation before the regulations are laid in Parliament for debate and vote.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding his Department provides to schools to support students with special educational needs in (a) North Cornwall and (b) England.

Nadhim Zahawi: Funding for students with special educational needs (SEN) is contained within the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant. In 2017-18 this funding came to £5.8 billion for England, and in 2018-19 this will rise to £6 billion.The first £6,000 of additional funding for SEN pupils comes from schools’ budgets. Beyond this, high needs funding, which is allocated to local authorities, is spent in consultation with their schools forum.In 2017-18 Cornwall was allocated £39 million to be used for this purpose, and in 2018-19 this will rise by 3.6 per cent to £40.4 million. This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's consultation, Eligibility for free school meals and the early years pupil premium under Universal Credit, which closed on 11 January 2018, if he will provide the total number and proportion of all 8,981 responses, including those left out of the data analysis, who were in favour of the Government’s proposals.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government's response to the consultation, Eligibility for free school meals, the early years pupil education entitlement for two-year-olds under universal credit, for what reasons the responses from supporters of the Children’s Society were excluded from the overall data analysis; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department ran an eight-week consultation from 16 November 2017 to 11 January 2018. Officials analysed all responses received, including those received through campaigns. We received 8,421 emails as part of the Children’s Society campaign, which asked people to share the Children’s Society’s response to our consultation. These responses have not been included in the data analysis, as they were not received through our formal consultation site. They were, however, clearly referenced in the government’s response to the consultation, and considered in formulating our response. Where copies of the Children's Society's response were received through the formal consultation site, these were included in our data analysis figures. For further breakdowns, please see a link to our consultation response: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/681210/Government_response_FSM_and_EY_entitlements_under_Universal_Credit.pdf.

Adoption

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2017 to Question 119798, on adoption, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting such information; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: By law, local authorities can delegate adoption services to non-profit-making registered adoption charities. The department has no plans to begin collecting information on which local authorities decide to do this. This information is available from local authorities.

Teachers: Qualifications

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state school teachers in England have not had Qualified Teacher Status in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East, and (d) England in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The full time equivalent (FTE) number and percentage teachers without Qualified Teacher Status in state funded schools in, (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside local authority, (c) the North East Region and (d) England, is shown in the tattached table.



FTE number of teachers in state funded schools
(Word Document, 17.1 KB)

Schools: Staff

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the public sector pay cap on the recruitment and retention of staff in schools in (a) England, b) London and (c) Lewisham Deptford constituency.

Nick Gibb: The public sector pay cap is no longer in place and we have adopted a more flexible approach to public sector pay. The Department's remit letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) states that the STRB should utilise this flexibility to target the next pay award to promote recruitment and retention. The fundamental changes to teachers’ pay that have been introduced over the last four years, following the STRB’s recommendations, have given greater autonomy to schools to decide how to reward their staff. This increased flexibility helps schools to attract and retain the best teachers and to target any school-level recruitment and retention problems they may have, including addressing teacher shortages in specific subjects.

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the amount of funding removed from individual school budgets by the Wakefield City Academy Trust.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding to Trusts which are taking over schools from the Wakefield City Academy Trust.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether funding removed from individual school budgets by Wakefield City Academy Trust will be reimbursed.

Nadhim Zahawi: Wakefield City Academies Trust is taking a trust-wide perspective of its finances, which many academy trusts do. The department is working to ensure all 21 academies transfer to incoming trusts in a way that secures the financial future for each school and the education of their pupils. All 21 academies will transfer to their new trusts with a balanced budget position, enabling incoming trusts to give each school a fresh start. To support this, the department is providing appropriate funding to the incoming trusts to improve pupil outcomes. The academies will be moving to a much more financially secure environment, and will be receiving excellent support from trusts with proven track records.

Foster Care

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Scottish Government's review of foster care in Scotland and to the Education Committee report on fostering, published on 22 December 2017, HC 340, if the Government will undertake a review of the foster care system in England and Wales.

Nadhim Zahawi: In March 2017 The government commissioned Sir Martin Narey and Mark Owers to undertake an independent review of the fostering system in England. Their report was published on 6 February 2018, which sets out a number of recommendations to improve the outcomes of looked after children in foster care. The report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 679320/Foster_Care_in_England_Review.pdf. The department is considering these recommendations, alongside those made by the Education Select Committee. The government response will be published in the spring.

Teachers: Training

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will make training on supporting looked-after children a mandatory part of teacher training.

Nick Gibb: All initial teacher training courses must be designed so that trainees can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level. The Teachers’ Standards include a requirement that teachers have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including looked after children, and are able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them. In July 2016, the Department published ‘a framework of core content for initial teacher training’ developed by independent experts, aimed at supporting teacher trainers and trainees to have a better understanding of the essential elements of good Initial Teacher Training content. The Framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-government-response-to-carter-review.

Foster Care

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of peer-to-peer support groups for foster carers.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Education Select Committee and the government’s independent review into foster care considered the support foster carers receive, including peer support. The department is carefully considering the recommendations and the government response will be published in spring this year. The independent review is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ %0b679320/Foster_Care_in_England_Review.pdf.  In addition, the department funds projects to support foster families through the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme. This includes the Mockingbird Family Model. One of that project’s aims is to increase rates of foster parent recruitment and retention, which includes providing peer support to foster parents. The project will be subject to rigorous independent evaluation and will inform the evidence base of what works in children’s social care.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) two (b) three and (c) four year olds have attended maintained nursery schools in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: Information about schools and pupils is published in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017. Data for each school is available under ‘Underlying data: SFR28/2017’ of the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release, contained within the sub file ‘SFR28_2017_Schools_Pupils_UD’. The figures can be filtered by phase-type grouping, including state-funded nursery (column N), and full age breakdown (columns AC to AI, BA to BG, BY to CE, CW to DC). Information about earlier years can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

Child Minding: Registration

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childminders have (a) joined and (b) left the early years Ofsted register in each year since August 2012.

Nadhim Zahawi: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member for Manchester Central and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both House.

Self-employed: Adoption

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to provide financial support for self-employed people taking adoption leave.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government set out in its response to the Taylor Review of modern employment practices that it agrees with the principle of equalising benefits for theself-employed. However, it is right that we only consider making changes to this area once we have carefully considered this in the wider context of tax, benefits and rights over the longer term. The government has taken significant steps to equalise the state benefits provided to the employed and self-employed, including giving the self-employed access to the full rate of the new State Pension for the first time, (worth an additional £1,900 per year).

Adoption: Self-employed

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many self-employed people adopted a child in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrallyThe latest figures on adoption were published in a Statistical First Release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017’ on the 7 December 2017. The release is available on the department’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/ statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017.

Communication Trust: Finance

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons his Department has reduced funding for the Communications Trust.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department has allocated to Speech Language and Communication Needs in each of the last 5 years.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department plans to allocate to Speech Language and Communication Needs in 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: Specialist speech, language and communication support is not funded directly by the Department for Education. It is commissioned locally, for example by local authorities using their high needs funding budgets, and also via clinical commissioning groups. Separate funding to provide these services is not allocated from the department’s budget. The department’s current one-year contract with I CAN, on behalf of The Communication Trust (TCT), is due to end as planned at the end of March 2018. The contract was for £650,000 to develop sustainable resources and programmes to support the education workforce to develop their skills in supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). We are in discussion with TCT about how best to ensure that all practitioners are able to make continued use of the materials and training developed through this contract. We remain committed to upskilling the workforce to support those with SLCN, and want to do more to embed knowledge and ensure good practice is disseminated and understood widely. Our Social Mobility Action Plan (SMAP), ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’, prioritises work in the early years to close the word gap and improve early language acquisition for disadvantaged children. The SMAP includes proposals for continuing professional development training; and an early language assessment tool for health visitors and early years practitioners, to ensure that any language delays can be picked up and the right support put in place quickly. We expect to invite tenders for this work in due course. The value for this work has not yet been finalised. Further information on SMAP, ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/667690/Social_Mobility_Action_Plan_-_for_printing.pdf.

Foster Care

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national fostering college; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education is currently considering the recommendation made by the Education Select Committee to establish a national college for foster carers. We are considering these recommendations alongside those of the government’s independent review of fostering. Our formal response to both reports will be published in spring 2018.

Foster Care

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of conducting a national survey of fostering households.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities have a duty to ensure there are enough foster parents to meet the diverse needs of the children they look after. However, we are aware that the right type of foster care may not always be available at the time or in the area it is needed. The government’s independent review into foster care and the Education Select Committee considered sufficiency planning and commissioning practices as well as the recruitment and retention of foster parents. The department will be carefully considering the recommendations from both reports. The government response will be published this spring.

Foster Care: Costs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of standardised cost analyses of Local Authority and IFA foster placements.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education is currently considering the Education Select Committee’s recommendation that the government should require standardised cost analyses of local authority and independent fostering agency placements. We are considering these recommendations alongside those of the government’s independent review of fostering, which also considered cost drivers and fees. Our response to both reports will be published in spring 2018.

Foster Care

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to include fostering as a recognised professional occupation.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government’s independent review into foster care and the Education Select Committee inquiry considered the status of foster parents, including whether foster parents should be considered as professionals or employees. The department is carefully considering the recommendations of both reports and the government response will be published in spring this year. The Education Select Committee report is available here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/inquiry1/. The independent review of foster care is available here: https://www.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/%0b679320/Foster_Care_in_England_Review.pdf.

Children: Disadvantaged

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's consultation on Analysing family circumstance and education, which closed in July 2017, when his Department plans to respond to that consultation; and for what reason his Department has not yet responded.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has been considering the representations made in this consultation and will be publishing shortly.

Schools: Admissions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how his Department monitors the requirement that schools must consult on their admissions arrangements at least once every seven years; and what information his Department collects on such consultations.

Nick Gibb: The School Admissions Code (the Code) places a statutory duty on school admission authorities to consult locally before making any changes to their admission arrangements. Where no changes are proposed, they must consult at least once every seven years to ensure that the admission arrangements continue to meet local needs.The Department does not collect information on the consultation process of individual admission authorities.Admission authorities are responsible for ensuring that they comply with the requirements of the Code, including those around consultation.Anyone who believes that an admission authority has not complied with the Code, may make an objection to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. The decision reached by the Schools Adjudicator is binding and enforceable by the Secretary of State.

Association of Independent LSCB Chairs

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department provided to the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Chairs in each financial year since 2016.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education awarded the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs a grant of £25,000 in the financial year 2016-17: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2016-to-2017.No funding has been provided in the financial year 2017-18.

Pre-school Education: Greater London

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many local authority-maintained nurseries there were in (a) London, (b) Brent, (d) Camden and (d) Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in each year since 2015; how many staff were employed in those nurseries in each year since 2015; and how much funding has been allocated to those nurseries in each year since 2015.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department publishes the number of schools of each type in the annual Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.The department publishes the number of staff employed in each school type in the annual SFR ‘School workforce in England’:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce. The department publishes the amount spent by local authority (LA) maintained nursery schools in the annual SFR ‘LA and school expenditure’:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data#local-authority-and-school-finance.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is conducting a review of childcare costs.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department’s long-standing annual Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, capturing information from a sample of approximately 10,000 providers, is the main way in which the department collects robust, wide-ranging and up-to-date evidence on childcare providers in England. This year, the analytical programme will be enhanced with more detailed research on provider finances and childcare costs for 2-4 year olds. This will involve externally commissioned research with site visits to a representative sample of early years providers to provide us with robust, up-to-date evidence on childcare costs. The most recent Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2016.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many local authorities paid childcare and early education settings late for funded hours provided during the September term.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.The department has made clear, in A4.13 and A4.14 of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities, that local authorities should pay all providers, particularly childminders, monthly and are expected to do so from September 2018. However, if a provider requests and the local authority agree an existing alternative sustainable method of payment may be continued. We have also stated in the statutory guidance that local authorities should sign up to the prompt payment code which has been produced by the Institute of Credit Management. The code is available to view here: http://www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/. The Early education and childcare - Statutory guidance for local authorities is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.

Special Educational Needs: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding his Department provides to schools to support students with special educational needs in (a) Coventry and (b) West Midlands.

Nadhim Zahawi: Additional funding to support students with special educational needs is contained within the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant. This funding is allocated to local authorities, who spend it in consultation with their schools forum. In 2017-18 Coventry was allocated £35.2 million in its high needs block, and in 2018/19 this will rise by 4.3% to £36.7 million. Across the West Midlands, local authorities received £606.6 million in 2017/18, which will rise by 3.1% to £625.3 million in 2018/19. This information can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.

Apprentices: Disability

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that apprenticeship programmes are accessible to people with a disability.

Anne Milton: The department is delivering the recommendations of the Maynard Taskforce to improve access to apprenticeships for people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. We have adjusted the minimum standard for English and mathematics for people with a learning difficulty or a disability who have an Education, Health and Care Plan, a statement of Special Educational Need or a Learning Difficulty Assessment. In addition, British Sign Language (BSL) is now an alternative to English Functional Skills for those apprentices with BSL as their first language. We also offer providers an additional £150 a month where the cost of supporting an apprentice is higher. If further support is required, providers can claim up to £19,000 for each apprentice in a funding year from the Learning Support Fund. In agreement with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, exceptional Learning Support is available for specific cases that requires funding in excess of this.  End-Point Assessment Organisations are required to make sure there is fair access for those with disabilities, by having a policy of reasonable adjustments. Apprentice employers and training providers are also obliged under equalities law to offer reasonable adjustments for disabled apprentices. Access to Work funding is available from the Department for Work and Pensions to support adjustments that apprentices may need in the workplace.

Schools

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many on-site visits Education and Skills Funding Agency staff have made to (a) Multi Academy Trusts and (b) other schools by region in each of the past 3 years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.

Academies: Finance

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many reports his Department has received of irregular financial activity at academy schools, by region, in each of the last.

Nadhim Zahawi: Academy trust accountability is founded on a clear framework communicated and regulated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. As a condition of their funding agreement, all academy trusts are required to prepare annual accounts, independently audited by a statutory auditor.As part of the audit process, the independent auditor undertakes a regularity review to identify instances of material irregularity and non-compliance with the accountability framework. The auditor’s ‘Report on Regularity’ is included in every trust’s annual accounts that are published on each trust’s website and filed with Companies House. The table below shows the number of cases where auditors did not raise any concerns in their regularity reports and those where auditors noted matters of material irregularity and non-compliance for each of the three academy years 2013 to 2014, 2014 to 2015 and 2015 to 2016. Figures for 2016 to 2017 will be published in Academies Sector Annual Report and Accounts in October 2018. Any regional breakdown of this national analysis could be potentially misleading given that many multi-academy trusts span regional boundaries. Auditor's Regularity Report2013/142014/152015/16No material irregularity or non-compliance2,5542,7822,865Material irregularity or non-compliance reported136119136Total Academy Trusts2,6902,9013,001Percentage with reported non-compliance5.1%4.1%4.5%

Foster Care

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans to respond to the recommendations of the report on the National Fostering Stocktake, published in February 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government is currently considering the recommendations of the National Fostering Stocktake report, alongside those made by the Education Select Committee. Our response to both reports will be published in spring 2018.

Schools: County Durham

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the real terms net change in funding will be for schools in County Durham under the new national funding formula.

Nick Gibb: The Department published full details of the school and high needs national funding formulae, and the impact they will have for every local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs.The national funding formula would allocate an additional 2.8% to schools in County Durham, if implemented in full based on 2017-18 pupil data. This represents an increase of £8.0 million. The actual funding that County Durham will receive will be determined each year on the basis of the most recent pupil data available.As the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has said, the additional £1.3 billion we are allocating to schools funding means that overall funding per pupil across the country will now be maintained in real terms up to 2020.

Schools: Rural Areas

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the new national funding formula on schools in rural areas.

Nick Gibb: Schools in districts identified as rural by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would gain on average 3.9%. Of these, remote schools that attract additional funding through the sparsity factor will gain on average 5.0%, which ensures that the higher costs of these schools are recognised. These figures are calculated as if the national funding formula had been implemented in full in 2017-18, with no transitional arrangements.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare and early education settings have contacted his Department regarding funding rates for childcare since February 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department regularly receives correspondence from childcare and early years settings on a wide variety of topics, including funding rates. It has been made clear that getting funding rates right is key to the successful delivery of childcare entitlements, and the department is happy to hear from providers and other organisations on this.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Electricity Generation: Environment Protection

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of distributed energy solutions as a low cost route to decarbonisation.

Claire Perry: In October last year we published the Clean Growth Strategy:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-growth-strategy.In this document the Government set out its strategy for how the whole country can benefit from low carbon economic opportunities through the creation of new technologies and new businesses, which creates jobs and prosperity across the UK, while meeting our ambitious national targets to tackle climate change. This means developing low carbon sources of electricity that are both cheap and clean, taking into account wider system impacts for all sources of generation. It also means upgrading our electricity system so it is smarter (using data to provide greater control), more flexible (providing energy when it is needed) and takes advantage of rapidly developing technologies such as energy storage.

Electricity Generation: Business

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will review the incentives for businesses to use distributed energy solutions.

Claire Perry: We are considering options for small-scale low carbon generation beyond 2019, and a consultation on the Feed-in Tariffs scheme will be published in due course. Ofgem’s current Targeted Charging Review (link: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/targeted-charging-review-consultation) is considering some aspects of network charging and the incentives it places on network users, including distributed energy.

Energy: Investment

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made on potential effect of the Government's proposed energy price cap on investment in the energy sector.

Claire Perry: The draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill is clear that Ofgem must have regard to the need to ensure that holders of supply licences who operate efficiently are able to finance activities authorised by the licence. It would be for the independent regulator, Ofgem, to make its assessment of efficient operations. Ofgem is not required to have regard to investment projects that are outside the scope of the activities authorised by the supply licence.

Energy: Meters

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the Government's proposed energy price cap on the smart meter roll-out.

Claire Perry: The draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill is clear that Ofgem must take into account an efficient supplier’s ability to finance its activities. This would include the roll out of smart meters, which is a requirement of their supply licence.

Energy: Prices

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what business model his Department will use in determining the level of the proposed energy price cap.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill would require Ofgem to set the level of the price cap such that, amongst other things, it would maintain incentives for switching and enable effective competition.

Energy: Prices

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish details of the business model his Department used to determine the pre-payment meter energy price cap.

Claire Perry: The prepayment safeguard (price cap) tariff was introduced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following its investigation into the energy markets. The methodology set by the CMA, and administered by Ofgem, to calculate the cap was brought into effect by the CMA’s Energy Market Investigation (Prepayment Charge Restriction) Order 2016, which is available on the CMA’s website here, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-market-investigation-prepayment-charge-restriction-order-2016

Energy: Prices

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations his Department has received from businesses on the effect on investment of the proposed removal of appeals from the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill to an expert body.

Claire Perry: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy receives many representations from businesses on a range of issues. The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, so it does not remove an existing right of appeal. Energy companies would be able to challenge Ofgem’s decision on the setting of the cap by way of judicial review. The draft Bill is clear that Ofgem must have regard to the need to ensure that holders of supply licences who operate efficiently are able to finance activities, including carrying out investment authorised by the licence.

Energy: Prices

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his department has made an assessment of the potential effect of banning standard variable tariffs on (a) customer engagement (b) switching rates and (c) reducing the differentials between the highest and lowest tariffs.

Claire Perry: Imposing an absolute price cap on domestic standard variable and default tariffs with limited exemptions will ensure customers on these tariffs do not pay unjustifiably high prices. Banning these tariffs would not provide assurance that they would not simply be replaced with an alternative default tariff that had little impact on customer engagement, switching rates or differentials between highest and lowest tariffs. Reducing the differentials between the highest and lowest tariffs could result in suppliers removing their cheapest tariffs but maintaining high priced standard variable tariffs. This was also the view of the BEIS Select Committee in their report on the draft Bill.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to review the cost and supply of wood pellets in relation to Renewable Heat Incentive tariffs.

Claire Perry: We do not currently plan to review biomass tariffs on the Renewable Heat Incentive. Compensation for running cost differences is only one part of RHI tariffs when compared with the compensation for high up-front costs of renewable systems.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the news release Wood Pellet Shortages, published by UK Pellet Council on 18 January 2018, whether his Department plans to adjust the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariff for biomass boilers installed under the RHI scheme.

Claire Perry: We do not currently plan to review biomass tariffs on the Renewable Heat Incentive. Compensation for running cost differences is a part of RHI tariffs when compared with the compensation for high up-front costs of renewable systems.

Shipbuilding: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to promote (a) commercial and (b) military shipbuilding in the North East.

Richard Harrington: The National Shipbuilding Strategy sets out plans for procuring all future naval ships. Future warship procurement will be by competition between UK shipyards, and international partners will be encouraged to work with them to produce the best possible commercial solution. Non-warships, such as support shipping, will be procured by international competition. BEIS is supporting the Maritime Enterprise Working Group (MEWG) set up to lead the industry response to the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The MEWG is led by Peter French, former Chief Executive of BMT Group, and is supported by the Society for Maritime Industries (SMI). The MEWG’’s membership consists of high ranking industry members from different parts of the country, including the North East. The group’s priorities include looking at improving competitiveness and productivity in the shipyards and supply chain to help shipbuilding companies improve their capability when bidding for, both, commercial and naval contracts. BEIS ensures that the work of the MEWG is used appropriately in the wider work being done across Whitehall on the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

Funerals

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the level of competition in the funeral industry.

Andrew Griffiths: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the independent non-ministerial department responsible for investigating market-wide competition issues in the UK. The CMA has not recently conducted a study or investigation into the funeral industry but regularly reviews what market issues should be included within its work portfolio, in line with its published prioritisation principles.

Funerals

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the extent of exploitative practices in the funeral industry.

Andrew Griffiths: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the independent non-ministerial department responsible for investigating market-wide competition issues in the UK. The CMA has not recently conducted a study or investigation into the funeral industry but regularly reviews what market issues should be included within its work portfolio, in line with its published prioritisation principles.

Energy: Prices

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill.

Claire Perry: BEIS Ministers and officials meet stakeholders to discuss a range of issues. The Government published the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill on 12 October 2017 for pre-legislative scrutiny by the BEIS Committee, which the devolved administrations were able to respond to.

Energy: Prices

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland which will be affected by Ofgem’s decision to increase its price cap by £57 a year from April 2018.

Claire Perry: The prepayment meter safeguard (price cap) tariff covers around 5 million households in Great Britain (around 4 million on pre-payment meters and around 1 million recipients of the Warm Home Discount). Ofgem estimated that the introduction of the cap saved an average PPM customer £60 a year, and even with the recent change the cap will remain £34 cheaper than the market average standard variable tariff.

Energy: Pricess

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the implications are for his legislative proposals on requiring Ofgem to review the price cap only once a year from 2020 of Ofgem’s decision to increase the level of its pre-payment meter price cap as a result of increasing wholesale costs.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill proposes to require Ofgem to review and report on whether the conditions for effective competition are in place and to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State. This will inform the Secretary of State’s decision on whether the cap should remain in force. The first review and report would be in 2020 and each year, up to 2023, that the price cap remains in place.In designing the methodology for setting the level of the price cap we would expect that Ofgem would need to consider how to take account of relevant changes in costs such as for wholesale energy.The prepayment safeguard tariff was introduced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following its investigation into the energy markets. The methodology set by the CMA, and administered by Ofgem, to calculate the cap is based on wholesale costs, network costs, policy costs, operating costs, and costs specifically associated with prepayment meters.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of re-classifying electricity storage vessels to enable distribution network operators to utilise such vessels without paying generation charges.

Claire Perry: In the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published last July, the Government and Ofgem said that measures should be taken to limit the ownership and operation of electricity storage by distribution network operators. This is to prevent competitive activities being carried out by monopoly network operators, which would inhibit fair competition in the market. Ofgem subsequently consulted on limiting the ownership and operation of storage by distribution network operators in October last year, and we expect Ofgem to finalise their position in the coming months.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to identify locations for potential electricity storage schemes that would best supplement the existing National Grid system; what steps his Department is taking to facilitate such installations; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State launched the joint Government and Ofgem Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan in July 2017, in which we committed to 29 actions to facilitate the transition to a smarter, more flexible energy system. One of these actions was for network operators and industry to continue to improve network connection processes for electricity storage. As part of this commitment, the Energy Networks Association recently published a guidance document called ‘Information on Distribution Connection Options’ which aims to provide clarity on connections options, and is the first output of their work on this issue. We expect further guidance as their work continues, including greater transparency for storage operators on where best to connect. Several Distribution Network Operators have already published so-called ‘heat maps’ for this purpose, and we expect others to follow suit.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of exempting operators of electricity storage from balanced services use of system charges.

Claire Perry: Network charging, including balancing services use of system charges, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator. Ofgem published a consultation on a Targeted Charging Review in March 2017, also setting out its views on network charges for storage. These views are that storage should not face demand residual charges at transmission and distribution level, and should not face two sets of balancing system charges. Industry has since brought forward code modification proposals, including one addressing balancing charges, and these are currently going through the industry codes modification process.

Green Deal Scheme

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to introduce a new code of practice for green deal providers and assessors in the relaunched green deal.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether existing providers will have to undergo new quality and standards checks before participating in the new green deal scheme.

Claire Perry: The Green Deal Framework remains in place and we are aware that various sources of private finance have continued to be utilised under the Framework. As such, the Green Deal was at no point ended and consequently will not be “re-launched”. We are, however, looking to improve and revitalise the Green Deal. My department published a Call for Evidence on the Green Deal Framework in October 2017. We are considering the responses and will consult on any proposals to reform the Green Deal in due course. Current participants in the Green Deal scheme must continue to adhere to all the requirements of the scheme that apply to them.

Green Deal Scheme: Standards

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many green deal providers were not certified by UKAS as meeting the green deal standard in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many green deal providers were refused the right to produce green deal reports.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many green deal providers have registered with the Green Deal Registration and Oversight Body in each year since that body has been established.

Claire Perry: Green Deal Providers are just one of four key authorised participants involved in the Green Deal customer journey, each with different customer interactions. There are also differences in the requirements to become authorised participants. The criteria that they have to meet are set out in the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure, Acknowledgement, Redress etc.) Regulations 2012. Organisations are not required to have UKAS approval in order to become Green Deal Providers. It is not the Provider’s role to produce Green Deal reports (or “Green Deal Advice Reports”). This is the responsibility of the Green Deal Assessor. No Providers, therefore, have been refused the right to produce Green Deal reports. The table below sets out the number of organisations, by year, who have been registered as Green Deal Providers. These numbers do not take account of the numbers by year who have withdrawn from the scheme. The total number of currently-authorised Providers is 169. 201220132014201520162017191005216117

Adoption Leave

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons self-employed and employed people are treated differently on the provision of statutory adoption leave.

Andrew Griffiths: The main reason why parental leave entitlements for adopters focus on supporting employed parents is that they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over the time they take off work as self-employed adopters do.The Government is not ruling out providing further support for self-employed parents in the future. But, as set out in the Government response to the Taylor Review of modern employment practices, while we agree with the principle of equalising benefits for the self-employed it is right to only consider making changes to this area once we have carefully considered this in the wider context of tax, benefits and rights over the longer term.

Office for Product Safety and Standards: Finance

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the funding the Office for Product Safety and Standards has been allocated from existing Departmental budgets; and whether it represents an increase in spending on product safety.

Andrew Griffiths: New funding for the Office for Product Safety and Standards has been allocated from within existing Departmental budgets to increase spending on product safety. When the Office is fully operational its budget will include an additional £12m per year for new product safety activities, as announced in the Government’s response to the Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety. The budget for the Office for its first full year of operation in 2018/19 is expected to be around £25m in total which includes around £9m additional funding for product safety.

Office for Product Safety and Standards: Staff

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff are planned to work within the Office for Product Safety and Standards; and what proportion of those staff will be (a) newly recruited and (b) transferred from within his Department.

Andrew Griffiths: When fully staffed the Office for Product Safety and Standards will employ around 290 people. This includes approximately 180 existing staff covering pre-existing functions and up to 110 new posts specifically for product safety. The new posts will enable the Office to significantly increase national capacity in scientific, technical, enforcement and other product safety functions. Recruitment to those posts has already begun and positions are being filled by a mix of internal and external recruitment to ensure the Office has the specialist expertise it needs.

Energy: Prices

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has reviewed the effect of the green deal on average energy bills.

Claire Perry: Without having undertaken such a review, our broad assumption would be that overall the Green Deal would have had very limited effect on average bills. This is because of the small number of Green Deal Plans taken out and the “Golden Rule”, which helps to ensure that loan repayments should not exceed the savings expected to be made on energy bills.

Coal

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for BEIS, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential role for (a) carbon capture, utilisation and storage and (b) other cleaner coal technologies in facilitating the end of unabated coal power.

Claire Perry: We are leading the world by ending unabated coal generation in Great Britain by 2025 and the Department set out how we intend to put the 2025 closure into effect and the reasoning behind the preferred option. This is available on the website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/coal-generation-in-great-britain-the-pathway-to-a-low-carbon-future.With regard to the potential role for carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS), Government has been clear that new CCUS coal plants could have a role to play, stipulating in 2010 that all new coal power stations must be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology. No such assessment has been made against other cleaner coal technologies.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Finance

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding has been disbursed from the public purse on investment into research and development of the use of carbon capture, utilisation and storage to meet the UK's energy needs in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: We do not currently have an annual breakdown across the different funders of CCS R&D spend. As part of the Government’s CCS Commercialisation Programme, a £125 million R&D programme (2011-15) was established with investment from central Government, the Research Councils, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Centre (EPSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Innovate UK and the Energy Technologies Institute. As the Clean Growth Strategy set out, a further £162 million on innovation for Business and Industry will be invested over the current Spending Review period, of which BEIS has allocated £100 million for Industry and CCUS Innovation from the £505 million BEIS Energy Innovation Programme.

Industry

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on the Industrial Strategy White Paper prior to its publication.

Richard Harrington: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has spoken with the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work and the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy several times between the publication of the Industrial Strategy Green Paper in January 2017 and the White Paper in November. This is addition to a significant level of discussion between BEIS officials and their counterparts in the Scottish Government.

Fracking: Wells

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of wells projected to be drilled by the shale gas industry in (a)2025 and (b) 2030; whether those estimates have changed since (i) 2012 and (ii) 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Based on information provided by industry dating from 2016, BEIS previously estimated in 2017 that there could be around 155 wells by around 2025. This figure is now considered to be out of date. The Secretary of State has not made any new estimates for the period to 2025 and has not made any estimates for the period to 2030. The Secretary of State did not make estimates in 2012 or 2015.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Richard Harrington: For any correspondence written in Welsh, the Department will work with the Wales Office on a case by case basis to ensure an efficient and accurate response.

Conditions of Employment: Pay

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Itemised Pay Statement) (Amendment) Order 2018, what steps he is taking to ensure that workers with fragmented working patterns are able to identify that they are being paid at least the National Living Wage if their employer does not provide a clear breakdown of the different types of working time that they are paid for.

Andrew Griffiths: The Order ensures time-paid workers know the total number of hours for which they are being paid, by reference to their payslip. If this figure is less than the total hours that the worker has actually worked, then there is a risk of underpayment and we would encourage the worker to raise the issue with their employer or raise a free, confidential complaint with Acas. The Order’s provisions are in line with the Taylor Review’s recommendation to Government to increase transparency for workers over their employment rights. It fulfils out commitments in the Government’s response to the Review, to extend the right to receive a payslip to all workers and to require employers to state the number of hours being paid for on the payslips of time-paid workers.

Industry

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on industry in the (a) North East and (b) UK of the UK leaving the EU.

Richard Harrington: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26th February 2018 to Question 128893.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on the car industry in the (a) North East and (b) UK of the UK leaving the EU.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fuel Poverty: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people living in fuel poverty in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry in each of the last six years.

Claire Perry: The table below shows the number and proportion of households living in fuel poverty in the West Midlands and Coventry, from 2012 to 2015: 2016 data will not be available until summer 2018, and 2017 data will not be available until summer 2019. West MidlandsCoventry Fuel Poor HouseholdsPercent Fuel PoorFuel Poor HouseholdsPercent Fuel Poor2012340,20015.2%20,50016.3%2013320,00013.9%20,60015.9%2014279,70012.1%16,80013.0%2015316,00013.5%18,90014.4%Household figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. The latest sub-regional fuel poverty statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics

Conditions of Employment: EU Law

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2018 to Question 128106, for what reasons that answer did not confirm whether his Department is conducting a review of the potential effects on the economy of (a) amending and (b) removing existing EU-derived employment regulations.

Andrew Griffiths: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Religious Freedom

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support freedom of religion and belief in other countries to meet the strategic commitment to supporting freedom of religion and belief set out in the FCO Departmental Plan 2015-2020.

Mark Field: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Departmental Plan 2015-2020 was replaced in December 2017 with the FCO Single Departmental Plan which can be found on gov.uk. In step with the new plan, the FCO continues to promote and defend human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).In our ongoing dialogue with foreign governments and through public statements, the FCO raises individual cases and highlights practices and laws that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion or belief. For example, during my visit to Pakistan in November 2017, I raised the treatment of religious minorities, including discrimination and violence against the Ahmadiyya and Christian communities, with Pakistan's Ministry of Human Rights.The United Kingdom also actively promotes FoRB through multilateral diplomacy. At the United Nations, we work to maintain consensus on the adoption and implementation of the European Union sponsored Resolution on 'Freedom of Religion or Belief' and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation sponsored Resolution on 'Combating Religious Intolerance'.Through the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, the FCO continues to support a number of projects to promote tolerance. Current projects include work to promote religious tolerance through secondary school curricula in Iraq, Morocco and Lebanon, and a project which supports a network of human rights defenders in South Asia working on this priority.

Ottawa Convention

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the international community's commitment to the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty.

Sir Alan Duncan: As one of its founding signatories, the UK strongly supports the international community's commitment to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (known as the Ottawa Convention). As well as working to meet our own convention-based commitments to clear our sovereign territory in the Falkland Islands of anti-personnel mines, the UK is committed to the global efforts to tackle the scourge of anti-personnel mines through our international mine action programmes. As a demonstration of the UK's commitment, the Secretary of State for the Department for International Development announced on 4 April 2017 that the UK would triple its spending on mine action in developing countries, taking UK expenditure to £100million over the three years to March 2020. The UK also regularly encourages states who have not signed the Convention to do so, most recently fully supporting Austria, as the outgoing President of the Convention, in urging all non-States Parties to join without delay, as well as encouraging signatory states to fulfil their obligations.

Tibet: Human Rights

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Chinese Government on (a) the status of and (b) human rights in Tibet.

Mark Field: The Government position regarding the status of the Tibet Autonomous Region remains consistent. We regard it as part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). We regularly urge China to respect all fundamental rights across the PRC, including in Tibet, in line with both its own constitution and the international frameworks to which it is a party.We pay close attention to the human rights and wider situation in Tibet and the Government regularly raises the issue with the Chinese authorities. We raised our concerns directly with the Chinese authorities at the last round of the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue which took place in Beijing on 27 June 2017. We also set out our human rights concerns about China, and specifically in the Tibet Autonomous Region, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report on Human Rights and Democracy, which was issued on 20 July 2017.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights record of the Government of Sri Lanka.

Mark Field: The UK is committed to the full implementation of UN Human Rights Council Resolution 34/1, under which Sri Lanka committed to implement a range of measures to provide for human rights, truth-seeking, reconciliation, and devolution of political powers following the end of its civil war. I encouraged Foreign Minister Marapana to continue to make progress on these commitments when I met him in Colombo, in October 2017. Our High Commission in Sri Lanka regularly travel to the North and East (as did I to Jaffna during that visit) and meet with local groups, and where we have specific human rights concerns we raise these with the Sri Lankan government.This year the UK will continue to encourage progress on human rights issues, including modern slavery, gender inequality, and reform of discriminatory laws.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that the Sri Lankan Government observes UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.

Mark Field: The UK is closely monitoring delivery of the commitments made by the Government of Sri Lanka under UN Human Rights Council Resolution 34/1 (which rolls over commitments under 30/1), in collaboration with the UN, international partners, Government of Sri Lanka and civil society.During my visit to Colombo and Jaffna in October 2017 I discussed the importance of the Sri Lankan government meeting its obligations. Among these were establishing transitional justice mechanisms, including a credible accountability process for those most responsible for violations and abuses during Sri Lanka's civil war and the return of military held civilian land, particularly in the predominantly Tamil north and east.The UK continues to support the Government of Sri Lanka in its efforts to promote reconciliation and human rights. And we anticipate making further representations on the publication this march of the UN Interim Report on the implementation of Resolution 34/1. The UK is also providing Sri Lanka with £6.6 million of Conflict, Stability and Security Fund funding over three years, to include support for police reform and training, reconciliation and peace building, and demining in the north of the country.

Caribbean: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions has he had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring continued humanitarian assistance to those Overseas Territories in the Caribbean which were damaged by hurricanes in 2017.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Prime Minister tasked the Foreign Secretary to establish and chair an Interministerial Group to oversee and coordinate the Government's response to hurricane recovery in the region. That group was last updated on recovery efforts at the beginning of this month and will next meet in March.

Religious Freedom

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how information from his Department's meetings with civil society groups on freedom of religion or belief will inform foreign policy.

Mark Field: Ministers and officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), including our network of Embassies and High Commissions overseas, frequently meet representatives of civil society groups to discuss human rights issues, including the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). These meetings include a wide variety of faith leaders, academics, human rights defenders and members of non-governmental organisations. Such meetings enrich policy-makers' understanding of issues and inform the development of better policy.The FCO Minister of State with responsibility for human rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, has hosted two roundtables which have allowed for in-depth discussion of themes related to FoRB. The first, on 23 October 2017, looked at the Rohingya crisis. The second, on 12 December 2017, examined the role of women in tackling religiously motivated violent extremism. These roundtables have been excellent opportunities for policy-makers to hear the perspectives and insights of faith leaders and academic experts. This has helped deepen understanding and better prepare officials to respond to policy challenges.

Israel: Detainees

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the recent arrest of Ahed Tamimi, if the Government will seek the establishment of an urgent independent investigation into allegations of ill-treatment of young people in Israel's military detention system.

Alistair Burt: Israel’s treatment of Palestinian minors in military detention remains a human rights priority for this Government. While we do not have plans to establish an investigation, we have repeatedly and publicly called on Israel to fulfil its international legal obligations. Israel should implement the protections and due process that children are entitled to under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a State Party. We continue to closely follow the case of Ahed Tamimi and, while it is ultimately a matter for the Israeli authorities, we have raised our concerns with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK and the Israeli Ministry of Justice.

White Helmets

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, whether his Department has provided any funding to Syria Civil Defence, which is also known as the White Helmets.

Alistair Burt: Syria Civil Defence is funded by a number of nations, including the UK. Through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) and its predecessor, the Conflict Pool, the UK has been supporting the life-saving work of the White Helmets since 2013.

White Helmets

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will review the quarterly financial reports on UK funding for the Syria Civil Defence.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly reviews the financial reports of UK funding of Syria Civil Defence (SCD). The activities of SCD are also monitored and evaluated by our implementing partner and through third party monitoring. These reports and monitoring contribute to the British Government's work to ensure due diligence, evaluation and accountability.

White Helmets

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Ministers of his Department have held meetings with external stakeholders on projects funded by his Department in relation to the Syria Civil Defence.

Alistair Burt: ​I met members of the Syria Civil Defence (the "White Helmets") project when I visited their training site in July 2013. The Foreign Secretary and his predecessor have also visited the training site.

Sudan: Religious Freedom

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of religious freedom in Sudan; and what steps he is taking to help promote the right to freedom of religion or belief in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: Sudan remains a Human Rights Priority Country for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We remain concerned about infringements and restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, including restrictions on Christian school opening days, and the demolition of churches. We consistently raise our concerns with the Government of Sudan, most recently in meetings with senior Government officials on 11 February. Promoting freedom of religion or belief as a means of enhancing tolerance and inclusion will remain a key part of our ongoing engagement with the Government of Sudan.

Forced Marriage Unit

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which countries have been involved in cases reported to the Forced Marriage Unit since 2010; and how many cases have been reported for each such country.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The Forced Marriage Unit supports victims in the UK, and through our network of Embassies and High Commissions, British victims overseas. Since 2005, the Forced Marriage Unit has supported cases linked to over 90 countries. Forced Marriage Unit records the focus country as where marriage is due to take place regardless of where the victim is at the time of first contact.Between 2010-16 Forced Marriage Unit handled 9,618 cases linked to over 85 countries. During this period the top five overseas focus countries were Pakistan 4,714 (49 per cent of cases), Bangladesh 884 (9.2 per cent), India 736 (7.7 per cent), Afghanistan 212 (2.2 per cent) and Somalia 181 (1.9 per cent). There were 1049 cases (10.9 per cent) where there was no overseas element, for example the risk was in the UK. In 772 cases (8 per cent) the focus country was unknown.

Palestinians: Health Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Government of Israel on the approval of permits for Palestinians seeking medical treatment outside Gaza in 2017.

Alistair Burt: Our Embassy to Tel Aviv raised the issue of medical permits for Gaza with the Israeli authorities on 21 February. As I informed the House on 20 February, we have previously raised concerns about ambulance and permit delays with the Israeli authorities, and we will continue to do so. We have also, consistently urged the Israeli Government to ease movement and access restrictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Palestinians: Health Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Government of Israel on WHO reports on the number of Palestinian patients who have died while awaiting permits to travel outside Gaza for medial treatment.

Alistair Burt: While we have not raised this specific aspect, our Embassy to Tel Aviv raised the general issue of medical permits for Gaza with the Israeli authorities on 21 February. As I informed the House on 20 February, we have previously raised concerns about ambulance and permit delays with the Israeli authorities, and we will continue to do so. We have, also, consistently urged the Israeli Government to ease movement and access restrictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We are supporting the UN Access Coordination Unit to work with the Israeli Government, Palestinian Authority and aid agencies to facilitate humanitarian access in the OPTs.

Falkland Islands: Oil

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which (a) public and (b) private  bodies are responsible for the (i) assessment and (ii) issuing of licenses for oil exploitation in the Falklands Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: Oil exploration in the Falkland Islands is governed by the Falkland Islands Offshore Minerals Ordinance of 1994. Subject to this Ordinance, and with the consent of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the British Government appointed Governor of the Falkland Islands may, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, grant to any person a licence for the purposes of exploration or production in the controlled waters, or in the sea-bed or subsoil thereof, of the Falkland Islands.

Sierra Leone: Elections

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what election monitoring his Department plans to undertake in the elections in Sierra Leone later in 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The UK is closely following preparations for upcoming elections in Sierra Leone and calls for all parties to deliver free, fair, inclusive and peaceful elections. We fully support the EU Election Observer Mission, which has deployed 28 long term observers. A further 40 short term observers will deploy closer to the election day of 7 March. The UK has contributed to this mission, deploying 5-10 observers. The National Electoral Commission and other independent electoral bodies also have important roles and they must conduct themselves in a transparent and independent manner.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent meetings he has had with the Polisario on a negotiated future for the Western Sahara.

Alistair Burt: The UK supports the UN-led process to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara issue that provides for self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. I met the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, former German President Köehler, in January, and again at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. My officials last met representatives of the Polisario Front in December, and are due to do so again this week.

Sudan: Detainees

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens currently detained in Sudan following the protests that began on 7 January 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: Our Embassy in Khartoum is aware of two dual British-Sudanese nationals that have been detained following recent protests in Sudan. We continue to press the Government of Sudan to allow consular access to these two individuals, as well as to one dual Australian-Sudanese national as part of the UK’s agreement to provide consular assistance to Australian nationals in Sudan.

Sudan: Detainees

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of access to legal advice for detainees in Sudan following the protests that began on 7 January 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: We understand that many of those detained following recent protests have had some access to legal advice. We continue to make clear to the Government of Sudan our expectation that all detainees will be treated in accordance with international standards, which includes full access to legal advice.

Burma: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Burmese Government on allegations of the bulldozing of Rohingya mass graves; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: During his visit in February 2018 to Burma the Foreign Secretary saw first-hand Rohingya villages which had been razed. The FCO accepts that has been ethnic cleansing. The Foreign Secretary expressed his deep concern over the human tragedy of the Rohingya to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi during their meeting in Naypyidaw on 11 February. He lobbied that Burmese authorities carry out a full, credible and independent investigation into the violence in Rakhine and hold to account those responsible for human rights violations.

Syria: Peace Negotiations

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria on the inclusion of (a) the Democratic Union Party and (b) the People's Protection Units in the Geneva process; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We fully support UN Special Envoy Staffan De Mistura and are in regular contact with him to discuss the Syrian political process. We support an inclusive political process as set out in UN Security Council Resolution 2254. It is vital that the political settlement to the Syrian conflict protects the rights of all components of Syrian society. Decisions on when and how to include any particular group in discussions are for the UN Special Envoy to take.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has five Non-Departmental Public Bodies: the British Council, Marshal Aid Commemoration Commission, Wilton Park, Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Great Britain China Centre. The external recruitment agencies used by them, or by the FCO on their behalf, are: Russell Reynolds Associates, Hays Specialist Recruitment, Pro Group, Rencai, DGH Recruitment Limited, La Fosse Associates, Interquest Group UK Limited, Whitehall Resources Limited, Sentinel IT LLP, The Audit & Risk Recruitment Company, Michael Page UK Ltd, Stop Gap Group Ltd, Elevate Recruitment, Morgan Law Partners LLP, Perrett Laver, Minerva, Neutral Vendor (Comensura), Women on Boards, NEDonBoard, Nurole Ltd, Accountancy Recruitment Worthing, Reed, Checkmate Resourcing, GCS Recruitment, Gatenby Sanderson, Badenoch and Clark, Mark Sattin, Huntress, Prospect-Us, Pulse, Business in the Community, Mentoring Foundation, The Women's Organisation, Board Ready, Business Disability Forum, Gay Business Association, Association of Disabled Professionals, Egon Zehnder.

Attorney General

Female Genital Mutilation: Prosecutions

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of prosecutions for female genital mutilation.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has made the prosecution of female genital mutilation (FGM) a priority and has introduced a series of measures to further improve its handling of these cases. Every FGM case reported to the police is eligible for early investigative advice from the CPS, and training on FGM has been delivered to investigators and prosecutors across the country.The CPS has also appointed lead FGM prosecutors for each CPS area and agreed investigation and prosecution protocols with local police forces.Where FGM is not charged, other offences will be considered, and the CPS has developed an aide memoire for prosecutors and police identifying other offences which may be considered in the event that evidence does not support an offence under the FGM Act 2003.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ophthalmic Services

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2018 to Question 120603, on Ophthalmic Services, if he will publish the number of admissions for people with (a) age-related macular degeneration, (b) glaucoma and (c) diabetic retinopathy in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: A count of finished admissions episodes1 (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of: macular degeneration which includes age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy for the last five years is shown in the table below.  Financial yearDiagnosis2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17Macular Degeneration77,55975,67281,81579,71464,785Glaucoma20,48921,82722,30022,88924,184Diabetic Retinopathy13,17515,24919,38521,05717,819Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital Note: 1A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

Ophthalmic Services

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121244, on Ophthalmic Services, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of local commissioning arrangements for (a) glaucoma, (b) age related macular degeneration and (c) diabetic retinopathy.

Steve Brine: The Department has made no assessment of the effectiveness of local commissioning arrangements for glaucoma, age related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning secondary care ophthalmic services. CCGs are also able to commission eye care services in the community which go beyond the standard National Health Service sight test, where they judge them to be needed in their areas. CCGs are required, for all services they commission, to assess the health needs of their local population using the standard joint strategic needs assessment approach. CCGs are held locally to account to the population they serve through the health and wellbeing boards. In addition, NHS England has a statutory duty to conduct an annual performance assessment of every CCG. This assessment is carried out against a standard high level framework: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/ccg-improvement-and-assessment-framework-2017-18

Mental Health Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the waiting time for mental health assessment and therapy in (a) Lewisham borough, (b) London and (c) England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to reducing waiting times for mental health therapies across England. Performance against Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) waiting time standards continues to improve and we are consistently exceeding the targets. According to the 2016-17 IAPT annual report, 98.2% of those people completing treatment waited less than 18 weeks for their treatment to start in England against a target of 95% and 87.5% of people completing treatment waited less than six weeks against a target of 75%. Updates on clinical commissioning group (CCG) performance against these targets, including for London and Lewisham, are published on the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health Dashboard at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-five-year-forward-view-dashboard/ Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group has taken action in response to an increase in IAPT waiting times and expects to see an improvement in performance towards the end of Quarter 4 2017/18.

NHS: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £1.6 billion extra NHS funding announced in autumn 2017 will be spent in (a) North Cornwall constituency and (b) Cornwall.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England allocates funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), rather than to individual constituencies. Cornwall is served by NHS Kernow CCG. Following the Autumn Budget’s announcement of an extra £1.6 billion of revenue funding for the National Health Service in 2018-19, NHS England has issued new planning guidance detailing how funding will be distributed in the coming year. The amount of extra funding allocated to NHS Kernow CCG in 2018-19 can be found page 4, column 7 of the document available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Revised-CCG-allocations-2018-19-1.pdf

Nurses: North Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses were employed in North Cornwall constituency in (a) 2013-2014, (b) 2014-2015 and (c) 2016-2017.

Stephen Barclay: The information is not available in the format requested.

Dental Services

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Units of Dental Activity were delivered through NHS General Dental Services contracts in (a) Canterbury, (b) Kent and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contracted Units of Dental Activity were not delivered through NHS General Dental Services contracts in each of the last five years in (a) Canterbury, (b) Kent and (c) the South East.

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value was of contracted Units of Dental Activity which were not delivered through NHS General Dental Services contracts in each of the last five years in (a) Canterbury, (b) Kent and (c) the South East.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally.

NHS: Energy

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of deploying distributed energy resources across the NHS estate.

Stephen Barclay: The Department and NHS Improvement fully support the implementation of local, small-scale renewable energy sources that improve the resilience of the estate and drive a reduction in energy costs and carbon emissions. NHS Improvement is actively working with National Health Service providers to drive and implement improvements in these technologies, which include solar power, wind power and battery storage.

NHS: Energy

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to reduce energy costs across the NHS estate.

Stephen Barclay: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care commissioned Lord Carter of Coles to report on how to improve efficiency in hospitals in England. This identified potential savings of £125 million from National Health Services trusts investing in energy saving schemes. NHS Improvement is working with NHS trusts to support their delivery of these savings.

NHS: Energy

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out energy costs across the NHS estate.

Stephen Barclay: Data on the energy costs of energy use by National Health Service trusts is provided annually through the Estates Return Information Collection system. The information is shown in the attached table.



PQ127957 attached document
(Word Document, 62.95 KB)

NHS Trusts: Electricity Generation

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out the usage of diesel generators be each NHS trust in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, information on the total amount of oil consumed by National Health Service trusts is provided annually through the Estates Return Information Collection system, which has been provided in the attached table.

Mental Illness: Children

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 118225, on mental illness: children, whether his Department plans to collect such information centrally; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 published its report in 2016 and is available here: https://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB21748 7,500 people aged 16 or more were interviewed. Although the content in the published report did not include a section on the correlation between child sexual abuse and subsequent diagnosis of a mental health condition, questions on the experience of sexual abuse were included in the questionnaires and are therefore present in the full dataset. The Department will explore the feasibility of further analysis of the dataset to investigate the correlation between experience of sexual abuse under 16 years old and the prevalence of mental health conditions in adulthood.

Health Professions: Training

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of removing bursaries for nursing, midwifery and most allied health students on the number of people applying to study in each of those areas.

Stephen Barclay: The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service’s (UCAS) end-of-cycle data1, published in December 2017, showed the number of applicants who have confirmed places to study pre-registration nursing and midwifery in England from August 2017 was 22,575. This represents a decline of 3% from the equivalent stage in 2016 but an increase on the numbers in 2014 and 2015. UCAS does not publish data on a level of granularity that identifies specific figures for allied health profession students. The Department is working with relevant bodies across health and education to monitor the effects of the broader healthcare funding reforms and, as part of this, plans to publish an update, in autumn 2018, following the closure of the 2017/18 application cycle. In order to meet the growing need to increase the future supply of registered nurses, additional clinical placement funding was announced by the Department in August and October 2017. This will enable around 5,000 more nursing students to enter training each year from September 2018; an historic 25% increase. Broadening routes into nursing is a priority for the Department. That is why we have developed the new Nursing Associate role and the Nurse Degree Apprenticeship which will open up routes into the registered nursing profession for thousands of people from all backgrounds and allow employers to grow their own workforce. Notes: 1https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/ucas-undergraduate-analysis-reports/2017-end-cycle-report

Public Health

David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendations of the 2017 joint report from the Professional Standards Authority and the  Royal Society for Public Health entitled Untapped Resources: Accredited Registers in the Wider Workforce.

Steve Brine: There is no plan to make an assessment of the merits of the recommendations in the report ‘Untapped Resources: Accredited Registers in the Wider Workforce’. In 2016, Public Health England (PHE) published a report on this subject entitled ‘Fit for the Future: Public Health People’. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-for-the-future-public-health-people PHE’s report identified the importance of the wider workforce in delivering the radical upgrade in prevention, alongside a core workforce with strong technical skills.

Diabetes: North West

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many amputations were carried out in Lancashire and South Cumbria as a result of type 2 diabetes in (a)2015, (b) 2016 and c) 2017.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many amputations were carried out in Kent and Medway as a result of type 2 diabetes in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many amputations were carried out in North Central London as a result of type 2 diabetes in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital were able to provide the following data that details the count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) with a primary diagnosis of type two diabetes and a main procedure of amputation by Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) and related clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) of treatment for the financial years between 2014-15 and 2016-17. STPsCCGS2014-152015-162016-17Lancashire and South Cumbria STPNHS Blackburn with Darwen CCG**11 NHS Blackpool CCG199* NHS Chorley and South Ribble CCG-** NHS East Lancashire CCG**9 NHS Greater Preston CCG**18 NHS West Lancashire CCG-** NHS Fylde and Wyre CCG--- NHS Morecambe Bay CCG---North Central London STPNHS Barnet CCG*-* NHS Camden CCG232229 NHS Enfield CCG*** NHS Haringey CCG--- NHS Islington CCG---Kent and Medway STPNHS Ashford CCG*** NHS Canterbury and Coastal CCG1469 NHS Medway CCG252725 NHS Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG*6* NHS Thanet CCG*** NHS South Kent Coast CCG--- NHS Swale CCG--- NHS West Kent CCG*87Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes: A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. To protect patient confidentiality, figures between one and five have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures have been replaced with "*". Where the symbol "-" (dash) appears this represents the absence of data. It should be noted that HES disclosure control rules only apply to 'known' values, e.g. small numbers where the age is unknown do not need to be replaced with "*". Disclosure control is not applied to national or regional statistics but is applied to CCG level or more granular data.

Diabetes: Leicester

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what structured education relating to the Diabetes Transformation Fund has taken place in Leicester; and what plans there are for the future deployment of such education in Leicester.

Steve Brine: A total of £800,000 was granted (over three years) across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland in April 2017 from the Diabetes Transformation Fund. A total of £383,000 was put aside to focus on structured diabetes education to maximise the number of people receiving tailored education. West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Leicester City CCG, and Rutland CCG will focus on encouraging more young people aged 18-25 to take up diabetes education courses, as well as making available tailored services for women planning on becoming pregnant. The additional Structured Education offer that is currently being funded by NHS England transformation money will need to be fully evaluated towards the end of the funding period in 2018-19 before a decision on future commissioning is taken.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has set a timetable for commissioning groups to report back on the effectiveness of the Diabetes Transformation Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's objectives are for the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will be assisted by the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Steve Brine: NHS England has arrangements in place to monitor use of investment by local sites and progress in implementation. The evidence indicates that improvements in outcomes emerge after several years. These are being monitored by NHS England through a dashboard of key indicators. The objectives for the Diabetes Transformation Fund are to produce sustainable improvements in outcomes for people with diabetes through investment in key interventions that evidence indicates should result in both improved outcomes and savings that can be reinvested in the continuance of the interventions. The interventions are:- Improving achievement of the treatment targets (HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol) and reducing variation between clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and between general practitioner practices, with the aim of resulting in improvements in glycaemic control and psychosocial wellbeing;- Increasing uptake of diabetes structured education with the aim of a reduced risk of diabetes-related complications;- Increasing availability of multidisciplinary footcare teams with the aim of reduced rates of amputations for people with diabetes; and- Increasing availability of diabetes inpatient specialist nurses with the aim of reduced lengths of stay for inpatients with diabetes. The estimated number of people who will be assisted by the Diabetes Transformation Fund is as follows:- Structured education - The number of places offered will increase from 54,000 to 148,000 places across 137 CCGs; and- Treatment targets – There will be an estimated 864,000 interventions with individual patients to support improvements against the treatment targets in 112 CCGs. For Multi-Disciplinary Footcare Teams (MDFTs) and Diabetes Inpatient Specialist Nurses (DISNs) the estimated figures are in terms of the number of additional staff supporting patients:- MDFTs – Approximately 185 whole time equivalent (WTE) additional staff in new/expanded MDFTs will be funded in approximately 80 hospital sites or community teams from 67 providers; and- DISNs – Approximately 96 WTE additional DISN and related staff will be funded in approximately 70 hospital sites from 46 providers.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the reference in the Diabetes Transformation Fund guidelines to variation between clinical commissioning groups refers to; and what the reasons are for such such variation.

Steve Brine: The reference to variation is with respect to variation between outcomes for diabetes patients between clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), and between general practitioner practices within CCGs, where these cannot be explained by differences in population composition or other demographic factors.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been disbursed from the Diabetes Transformation Fund to date.

Steve Brine: The spending review has made provision for significant transformation funding through to 2020/21, and NHS England expect this to be spent in line with priorities set out in their Mandate, including for diabetes. To date, £11.2 million has been invested in improving the uptake of structured education, £14.9 million has been invested to increase the achievement of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended treatment targets, £9.8m has been invested to reduce amputations through new/expanded Multi-Disciplinary Footcare Teams, and £5 million has been invested to reduce the length of stay for inpatients with diabetes by providing new/increased numbers of Diabetes Inpatient Specialist Nurses and related staff.

Diabetes: Nurses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many diabetes specialist nurses have been recruited by each sustainability and transformation partnership as a result of the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many diabetic specialist nurses were employed by each sustainability and transformation partnership before the Diabetes Transformation Fund was made available.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, where advertisements were placed for the recruitment of diabetic specialist nurses employed by each sustainability partnerships as a result of the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Steve Brine: Information regarding advertisements for the recruitment of diabetes specialist nurses, and the number of recruited and employed diabetes specialist nurses by individual sustainability and transformation partnerships is not centrally held.

Diabetes: Nurses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional nurses have been trained as a result of the Diabetes Transformation Fund by each sustainability and transformation partnership.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not centrally held.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long on average diabetic patients spent in hospital in (a) 205, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital were able to provide the following data that details the mean number of hospital bed days for people admitted to hospital who have diabetes (as recorded in the National Diabetes Audit) in 2015-16 and 2016-17. 2015-16: 13.9 bed days 2016-17: 13.9 bed days Source: The data was taken from the Hospital Episode Statistics data set for England linked to the National Diabetes Audit, therefore the time periods used are for 2015-16 (April 2015 – March 2016) and 2016-17 (April 2016 – March 2017).Notes:- Bed days relating to all admissions of people with diabetes in the time period are counted, including multiple admissions by the same person.- People with diabetes who have not been admitted to hospital during the time period are not considered within these data.- In 2015-16, 82.4% of all general practitioner practices in England and Wales participated in the audit (95.3% in 2016-17).- Data for 2017-18 is likely to be available in late 2018.

Diabetes: Chiropody

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals were made from primary care to multi-disciplinary foot teams for people with diabetic foot disease in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not centrally held.

Clinical Priorities Advisory Group

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement by NHS England on 18 December 2017 on new specialised treatments, on which date the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group will meet in May 2018 to consider new recommendations.

Steve Brine: The Clinical Priorities Advisory Group is meeting on 14, 15 and 16 May to consider new recommendations on specialised treatments.

NHS: Drugs

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement by NHS England on 18 December 2017 on new specialised treatments, what estimate he has made of the annual expenditure for new medicines approved for funding as a result of the November 2017 prioritisation process.

Steve Brine: With reference to the announcement made by NHS England on 18 December 2017 on new specialised treatments for funding as a result of the November 2017 prioritisation process, NHS England estimate that in excess of £3 million annual expenditure for new medicines was approved.

NHS: Drugs

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance is issued by NHS England to manufacturers on the negotiation of medical outcomes-based commercial agreements for products undergoing review by the specialised commissioning prioritisation process.

Steve Brine: The published guidance about the specialised commissioning clinical prioritisation process is published on the NHS England website. This can be found here at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/spec-comm-service-development-policy.pdf Where a product is already in scope of a framework tender process run by the commercial medicines unit instructions on offer submissions are provided via the standard supplier portal as part of the tender process in the usual way. No general guidance has been issued to manufacturers.

Medical Treatments: Finance

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the budget is for the NHS England specialised commissioning prioritisation process in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

Steve Brine: The budget for the NHS England specialised commissioning prioritisation process for 2017/18 is £25 million and £25 million for 2018/19. Allocations have not been agreed yet for 2019/20.

NHS: Drugs

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to manufacturers of products undergoing review by the NHS England specialised commissioning prioritisation process on the timelines for the reverse auction element of the process.

Steve Brine: No formal centralised reverse auction is being undertaken for the May 2018 prioritisation round but NHS England continues to work with manufacturers through industry associations on the technology to support the process of submitting commercial proposals for future prioritisation rounds.

Hospitals: Consultants

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is making an assessment of the potential merits of providing support for consultants who wish to work flexibly beyond retirement age; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: As part of their responsibilities for ensuring they have sufficient skills and experience to deliver patient care, employers with consultant staff should be engaging them about whether they want to consider working flexibly beyond their retirement age. Those consultants who reach agreement with their employers to work beyond their retirement age have a range of flexible retirement options. These are described in the NHS Pensions “Retirement Guide”1 chapter “What if I want to work after I retire?” including “retire and return” which sets out the circumstances under which staff can be re-employed having taken their pension benefits. Following Lord Hutton’s ‘Independent Public Service Pensions Commission: final report’2, Ministers set up a Working Longer Group. This partnership of nationally recognised trade unions, National Health Service employers and health departments reviewed the implications of NHS staff working longer. Following their review, a library of research, tools and resources3 are available to help employers and staff, including consultants, understand the implications of working to a raised retirement age. Notes: 1https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/applying-your-pension 2https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-public-service-pensions-commission-final-report-by-lord-hutton 3http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/need-to-know/working-longer-group

Doctors: Training

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on responding to the recommendations of the Shape of Training review of October 2013.

Stephen Barclay: A Ministerial Statement and the report of the Shape of Training United Kingdom Steering Group was published on 11 August 2017 here: https://www.shapeoftraining.co.uk/1739.asp Since then the four UK Health Departments and associated education bodies have established, with the General Medical Council, the Curriculum Oversight Group. This Group is engaging with the medical Royal Colleges and their Faculties to consider how training pathways and curricula might be adapted in each specialty to meet future patient and service needs in accordance with the Shape of Training principles.

Junior Doctors

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that consultants have adequate protected time to support and mentor junior doctors.

Stephen Barclay: Under the current contract for consultants in England a proportion of a consultant’s job plan is allocated to Supporting Professional Activities which may, where relevant, include time to support and mentor junior doctors. The arrangements are determined locally, and it is for trusts to provide that there is adequate time in consultants’ job plans; but there are strong safeguards in place through the new junior doctor contract to ensure that junior doctors get the training and support that they need. Educational supervisors and junior doctors are jointly responsible for personalising each junior doctor’s work schedule according to the junior doctor’s training needs and the opportunities within the post. They must regularly review progress against agreed learning objectives, including ensuring that the doctor’s workplace experience delivers the anticipated learning opportunities. If the day-to-day work varies significantly or regularly from that in the work schedule in a way that impacts on training opportunities, junior doctors should raise exception reports with their educational supervisor, copied to the Director of Medical Education. Where concerns relate to hours of work, exception reports are copied to the Guardian of Safe Working Hours. Exception reporting gives the employer the opportunity to address the issues and make timely adjustments – including, but not limited to, changes to a junior doctor’s work schedule. Directors of Medical Education are responsible for addressing concerns relating to training issues and for reviewing the outcome of exception reports to identify whether further improvements to the junior doctor’s training experience are required. This could include changes to consultant job plans. The Director of Medical Education in each trust must report annually to the trust board on all work schedule reviews relating to education and training. Trust Boards must provide copies of these annual reports to external bodies, including local offices of Health Education England, the Care Quality Commission, the General Medical Council and the General Dental Council.

Heart Diseases

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of patients who (a) had heart attacks, (b) needed hospitalising as a result of heart problems and (c) had fatal heart incidents after their heart procedures were postponed in the last twelve months.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not centrally held.

HIV Infection: Health Services

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase funding for HIV support services.

Steve Brine: Decisions on funding and access to social care support services for people with HIV are made by local authorities. The need for HIV social care support has changed since the early days of the epidemic when people were dying in large numbers. Data from Public Health England shows that someone diagnosed promptly and aged under 58 in 2016 has the same life expectancy as any other citizen. Therefore the need for social support has reduced.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support the recruitment by the NHS of doctors from the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Stephen Barclay: The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and we are working across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high quality services on which patients rely following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. This includes working with the Home Office to secure a future migration system which ensures that we can meet future and growing demand, not just for doctors but for all those who work across the health and care system. The latest figures from NHS Digital show that there were over 3,200 more EU nationals working in the NHS in September 2017 than before the referendum result. The Government has also confirmed the biggest ever expansion in the number of doctors training places of 1,500 by September 2019 to make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to provide a first class service for patients.

Obesity: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase awareness of the dangers of obesity in children and young people in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Steve Brine: The Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan launched in August 2016 will help children and families to recognise and make healthier choices and be more active. Key measures in the plan include the soft drinks industry levy, the sugar reduction and wider reformulation programme and helping children to enjoy an hour of physical activity every day.Public Health England's social marketing campaign, Change4Life aims to help families and children in England to eat well and move more. The campaign has had high levels of engagement across Yorkshire and the Humber using multiple platforms including roadshows in Hull, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Leeds and Bradford. Through this campaign the Government, the National Health Service, local authorities, businesses, charities, schools, families and community leaders could all play a part in improving children’s diets and activity levels. ‘Our Healthy Year’ resources for Reception and Year 6 primary school teachers and school nursing teams to integrate engaging curriculum-linked activities on following a healthy diet and being more active in the daily school routine have been distributed to primary schools across Yorkshire and the Humber and are available to download for free from the Change4Life School Zone website, available to view here:https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schoolsThe Healthy Child Programme is the key universal public health service, delivered by health visitors, for improving the health and wellbeing of children. Its goals are to identify and treat problems early, help parents to care well for their children, change health behaviours and protect against preventable diseases. The programme is evidence-based and aims to prevent problems in child health and development and contribute to a reduction in health inequalities.

Orkambi: Republic of Ireland

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122358, on Orkambi: Republic of Ireland, if he will place copies of that correspondence in the Library.

Steve Brine: Copies of correspondence from the Government of the Republic of Ireland dated 28 November and 7 December 2016 and from my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the Government of the Republic of Ireland dated 13 January 2017, on Orkambi are attached.



PQ128237 attached document
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PQ128237 attached document
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PQ128237 attached document
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Orkambi

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's response to e-petition 209455, on making Orkambi available on the NHS for people with cystic fibrosis, if he will place copies of the correspondence between NHS England and Vertex in the Library.

Steve Brine: NHS England has advised that the correspondence requested is commercially sensitive and therefore it would not be appropriate to release this information.

Diabetes: Kent

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date £1.75 million in funding from the Diabetes Transformation Fund was transferred to the Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of funding provided by the Diabetes Transformation Fund on health outcomes in Kent and Medway; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps health authorities in Kent and Medway have taken as a result of funding received from the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Steve Brine: NHS England confirms that Diabetes Transformation Funding of £1.75 million has been awarded to the Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. The first quarter’s payment was made on 30 June 2017, the second quarter’s payment was made on 29 September, the third quarter’s payment was made on 29 December and the fourth quarter’s payment will be made on 28 February 2018. The Sustainability and Transformation Partnership was successful in obtaining diabetes transformation funding to make improvements in respect of the following treatment targets:- Increasing uptake of diabetes structured education with the aim of a reduced risk of diabetes-related complications; and- Increasing availability of multidisciplinary footcare teams with the aim of reduced rates of amputations for people with diabetes. We would expect local commissioners to assess the impact of these improvements in the coming years.

Diabetes: North West

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date £1.14 million in funding from the Diabetes Transformation Fund was transferred to the Lancashire and South Cumbria Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of funding provided by the Diabetes Transformation Fund on health outcomes in Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps health authorities in Lancashire and South Cumbria have taken as a result of funding from the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Steve Brine: NHS England confirms that Diabetes Transformation Funding of £1.14 million has been awarded to the Lancashire and South Cumbria Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. The first quarter’s payment was made on 30 June 2017, the second quarter’s payment was made on 29 September, the third quarter’s payment was made on 29 December and the fourth quarter’s payment will be made on 28 February 2018. The Sustainability and Transformation Partnership was successful in obtaining diabetes transformation funding to make improvements in respect of the following treatment targets:- Improving achievement of the treatment targets (HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol) and reducing variation between clinical commissioning groups and between general practitioner practices, with the aim of resulting in improvements in glycaemic control and psychosocial wellbeing;- Increasing uptake of diabetes structured education with the aim of a reduced risk of diabetes-related complications;- Increasing availability of multidisciplinary footcare teams with the aim of reduced rates of amputations for people with diabetes; and- Increasing availability of diabetes inpatient specialist nurses with the aim of reduced lengths of stay for inpatients with diabetes.We would expect local commissioners to assess the impact of these improvements in the coming years.

Diabetes: Greater London

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date £1.15 million in funding from the Diabetes Transformation Fund was transferred to the North Central London Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of funding provided by the Diabetes Transformation Fund on health outcomes in North Central London.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps health authorities in North Central London have taken as a result of funding from the Diabetes Transformation Fund.

Steve Brine: NHS England confirms that Diabetes Transformation Funding of £1.15 million has been awarded to the North Central London Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. The first quarter’s payment was made on 30 June 2017, the second quarter’s payment was made on 29 September, the third quarter’s payment was made on 29 December and the fourth quarter’s payment will be made on 28 February 2018. The Sustainability and Transformation Partnership was successful in obtaining diabetes transformation funding to make improvements in respect of the following treatment targets:- Improving achievement of the treatment targets (HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol) and reducing variation between clinical commissioning groups and between general practitioner practices, with the aim of resulting in improvements in glycaemic control and psychosocial wellbeing;- Increasing availability of multidisciplinary footcare teams with the aim of reduced rates of amputations for people with diabetes; and- Increasing availability of diabetes inpatient specialist nurses with the aim of reduced lengths of stay for inpatients with diabetes. We would expect local commissioners to assess the impact of these improvements in the coming years.

Doctors: Pensions

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing or reducing the NHS pension annual allowance or increasing its limits to improve the retention of experienced senior hospital doctors and GPs.

Stephen Barclay: Experienced senior hospital doctors and general practitioners who decide to become members of the NHS Pension Scheme (NHSPS) benefit from one of the best available defined benefit occupational pension schemes giving them a very good retirement income. Work done by the Government Actuary’s Department has concluded that the NHSPS remains good value and the “scheme pays” facility offers an efficient mechanism for meeting any tax liabilities.1The annual and lifetime allowances are important fiscal measures to ensure income tax relief on pension contributions is fair and sustainable. In context of the 1995 final salary section of the NHS Pension Scheme, clinicians who use up the full £40,000 annual allowance would see their annual pension increase by around £2,500. Clinicians who reach the £1 million lifetime allowance limit can expect an annual pension of around £44,000 payable at age 60 and increasing with inflation, plus a tax free lump sum of £132,000. Pensions of this size provide substantial financial security in retirement. Note: 1This work considered the length of time a member subject to the annual allowance would need to receive pension in retirement to recover both their own contributions to the NHSPS and the annual allowance tax charge for the year in question. Although the exact period depends on a number of factors including level of pay, section of membership, age at retirement, amount of tax free cash selected at retirement and the means of paying the AA tax charge (scheme pays or in cash) in most cases the period is less than half the expected life expectancy in retirement.

Prescription Drugs

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people who overdose on prescription opioids.

Steve Brine: The Government is concerned about the impact of long term use of prescription opioids. The Department has commissioned Public Health England to undertake an evidence review to better understand the scope of the problem of prescribed drug dependence. The review will bring together the best available evidence on prevalence and prescribing; the nature and likely causes of dependence or discontinuation syndrome among some people who continue to take these medicines; and effective prevention and treatment responses for each condition they are prescribed for.

Strokes: Medical Treatments

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the 24 NHS neuroscience centres have been commissioned to perform mechanical thrombectomy from April 2018.

Steve Brine: NHS England expects the majority of the 24 centres to offer thrombectomy procedures, subject to meeting key clinical and staffing requirements. A small number of these centres may work within a networked model with other centres to collectively provide full 24/7 cover within a particular geography. NHS England will be deciding during 2018/19, based on the initial roll out and on the basis of updated training and recruitment plans, whether any additional centres may be required to support the expanding service in the longer term.

Palliative Care: Prisoners

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what arrangements Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has with the NHS in relation to palliative care for prisoners.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provisions are in place for palliative care in privately managed prisons.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prisoners aged over (a) 60, (b) 70 and (c) 80 receive palliative care from Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are five privately managed prison contracts, all of which have provisions in place for palliative care. For those prisons where NHS England holds commissioning responsibility, they commission end of life and palliative care provision, support the prisons’ approach to the local authorities’ assessment and management of social care, and ensure that elderly patients are supported in accessing healthcare services.NHS England has developed a ‘Dying Well in Custody Charter’, mirroring the community based Dying Well Charter, scheduled to be published this spring.Information on receiving palliative care from Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service by age is not held centrally.

Prescription Drugs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 119603 on prescription drugs, what information his Department holds on the number of unique patients prescribed (a) benzodiazepines and (b) z drugs, including the duration of those prescriptions, for the last full two years for which data is available.

Steve Brine: The information is not held in the requested format. NHS Business Services Authority does not hold data relating to the dosage or the time period for which drugs are prescribed. Provided in the table below are the number of unique patients who have been prescribed benzodiazepines and z-drugs during the last full two years for which data is available. PeriodDrug GroupNumber of unique identifiable patientsProportion of Items where patient could be identifiedJanuary 2016 - December 2016Benzodiazepine1,631,58793.22%January 2017 - December 2017Benzodiazepine1,605,56594.60%January 2016 - December 2016Z-Drug1,039,14195.19%January 2017 - December 2017Z-Drug1,012,07996.33%

Prescription Drugs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of unique patients who have been prescribed (a) anti-depressants and (b) opioids, including the duration of those prescription in each of the last full two years for which data is available.

Steve Brine: The information is not held in the requested format. NHS Business Services Authority does not hold data relating to the dosage or the time period for which drugs are prescribed. Provided in the table below are the number of unique patients who have been prescribed anti-depressants and opioids for the last full two years for which data is available. PeriodDrug GroupNumber of unique identifiable patientsProportion of Items where patient could be identifiedJanuary 2016 - December 2016Antidepressants7,038,34796.27%January 2017 - December 2017Antidepressants7,252,92497.33%January 2016 - December 2016Opioids3,156,15694.04%January 2017 - December 2017Opioids3,131,47295.10%

Drugs: Mental Illness

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental health or behavioural disorder there were by (a) drug and (b) group of drugs in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is given in the following table. The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental and behavioural disorders for the years 2014-15 to 2016-17.Primary diagnosis2014-152015-162016-17Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol45,29744,49140,428Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of opioids1,9621,6421,430Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids1,3121,6061,301Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of sedatives or hypnotics234233222Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cocaine511643692Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of other stimulants, including caffeine974916660Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of hallucinogens138186153Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of tobacco510431762Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of volatile solvents243113Mental and behavioural disorders due to multiple drug use and use of other psychoactive substances3,3313,8173,501Total54,29353,99649,162Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital Note: A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider.

Drugs: Misuse

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs there were by (a) drug or (b) group of drugs in each of the last three years.

Steve Brine: Data collected by NHS Digital does not differentiate whether a substance has been taken illegally or has been prescribed. However data is collected on finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of poisoning and toxic effect for the financial years between 2014-15 and 2016-17. These figures are provided in the attached tables.A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. 



Finished Admission Episodes Poisoning
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Psychiatric Hospitals: Walsall

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans there to progress the outline business case for re-provision of the mental health hospital in Walsall approved by NHS Improvement to assist in mental health care in the Black Country.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Improvement is engaging with the Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust in respect of the development of the Full Business Case in a supporting capacity. The Trust has carried out a public engagement exercise in relation to the proposals, which ended on 22 December 2017. NHS Improvement advises that the value of the redevelopment scheme is £7.5 million. The Trust is expected to discuss the proposal further at the Executive Board in April 2018. Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group advises that it is fully supportive of the proposals and believes it will improve the quality of patient care for the local population.

Mental Health Services: West Midlands

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of (a) implementation of the strategy for mental health care and (b) mental health care provision in the Black Country.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide fiscal support to increase the provision of emergency beds for mental health crisis patients in the Black Country.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group advises that it is delivering services to support the intentions laid out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. This will identify mental health needs at an earlier opportunity and provide community support and treatment to reduce the use of crisis inpatient services going forward. Commissioners across the Black Country Sustainability and Transformation Partnership area have assessed local service provision and are working collaboratively to address gaps in services and deliver improved service delivery across the region. This includes potentially jointly commissioning services.

Symdeko

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the clinical benefits of making Symdeko available to people with cystic fibrosis; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Symdeko, a combination of two drugs – ivacaftor and tazacaftor, will be reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) within its Technology Appraisal programme. The consultation on the suggested remit, draft scope and provisional matrix of consultees and commentators was held from 23 November 2017 – 21 December 2017. We anticipate NICE will make its recommendation on whether its use should be referred onto its work programme within the National Health Service later this year/early 2019.

Drugs: Misuse

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what applications have been made by (a) Indivior and (b) Braeburn to license drugs to treat addiction.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Licences have been granted to Indivior UK Limited for Suboxone and Subutex sublingual tablets, for the treatment of opioid addiction. Suboxone sublingual tablets were approved through the European centralised route and Subutex sublingual tablets as United Kingdom national licences. There have been no applications made by Braeburn to licence drugs to treat addiction. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is aware that other companies have made licence application submissions to the European Medicines Agency for products for the treatment of addiction but details of the products are not yet in the public domain.

Addictions

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what applications have been received by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to recommend use of drugs to treat addiction.

Steve Brine: Topics for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals and high specialised technologies programme are referred to NICE by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. NICE has developed the following technology appraisals for addiction: Nalmefene for reducing alcohol consumption in people with alcohol dependence (published November 2014) is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta325 Methadone and buprenorphine for the management of opioid dependence (January 2007) is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta114 Naltrexone for the management of opioid dependence (January 2007) is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta115

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a fund to reimburse the historic back pay directly to sleep-in care workers.

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that providers of local authority-commissioned care for people with learning disabilities do not close as a direct result of their back pay liability for sleep-in shifts.

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the publication of the results of the Deloitte survey on sleep-in back pay liability.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is committed to ensuring that the social care sector is stable, both for those receiving care and for care workers. The Government recognises the pressure that has been placed on the sleep-in sector by historic liabilities for back pay and is exploring options to minimise any impact on the social care sector. This includes working closely with stakeholders to ensure that we have a clear understanding of any impact the sector may face. The information in the Deloitte study forms part of the evidence base that is being used to assess options and is subject to further analysis and refinement. Consequently there is no timetable for publication.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are plans to provide free flash glucose monitoring systems to type 1 diabetics on the NHS.

Steve Brine: Freestyle Libre – a flash glucose monitoring system – was included in Part IX of the England and Wales Drug Tariff from November last year. The Drug Tariff is a price list, and the listing of Freestyle Libre should not be interpreted as a recommendation to prescribe it. Patients will need to discuss the ongoing management of their condition with their healthcare professional and consider whether flash glucose monitoring is suitable for them. The Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee North, part of four NHS England committees providing guidance on the use of drugs and devices, has issued guidance on the use of Freestyle Libre suggesting a careful start to its use and data collection to better understand the benefits for patients. The Committee’s recommendations are available at this link: https://www.sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Flash-Glucose-monitoring-System-RMOC-Statement-final-2.pdf People with diabetes insipidus or diabetes mellitus (except where treatment is by diet alone) - which includes type 1 and type 2 diabetes - are eligible for free National Health Service prescriptions if they hold a valid medical exemption certificate.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure a high uptake in the HPV vaccine across all the regions of England; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: NHS England works in liaison with Public Health England to deliver the human papillomavirus vaccination for girls, and closely monitors the uptake rates for the programme. Local NHS England commissioners have access to uptake rates within their area, and work with the providers, schools and healthcare professionals to improve coverage, sharing best practice where relevant.

Social Services: Finance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities have sufficient resources to meet increasing demand for social care.

Caroline Dinenage: The Budget in March 2017 announced an additional £2 billion to be given to councils over the three years from 2017/18 for social care. More recently the Local Government Finance settlement announced a further £150 million for social care. This additional funding means that the Government has given councils access to up to £9.4 billion more dedicated funding for social care over the three years from 2017/18. Overall, councils are able to increase spending on adult social care in real terms in each of the next three years. The Government has set out plans to publish a Green Paper by summer 2018 presenting its proposals to reform care and support for older people

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons why the proportion of girls who did not complete the two-dose HPV vaccination course in 2016-17 failed to so do.

Steve Brine: In 2017, Public Health England (PHE) commissioned an evaluation of the delivery of the human papillomavirus vaccination programme for adolescent girls to determine service related factors that impact coverage and develop recommendations on how to improve it. The evaluation has been completed and is due for publication later this year. A survey of attitudes towards vaccination in general amongst teenagers and their parents was commissioned by PHE in 2017. Results should also be published later this year.

Female Genital Mutilation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical professionals have completed Health Education England’s e-learning training sessions on female genital mutilation since 2016; and which e-learning training packages on female genital mutilation are available for medical professionals.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In total 11,497 people completed the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) e-learning training available on the e-learning for health website between January 2016 and February 2018.The following modules are available in the FGM e-learning:- An Introduction to FGM- Legal issues regarding FGM in the UK- FGM: Issues, presentation and management in women and around pregnancy- Communication Skills for FGM consultations- FGM: Issues, presentation and management in children and young women- The Psychological Impact of FGM Each of the above sessions are 20 to 30 minutes long and are designed to improve the knowledge and awareness amongst healthcare professionals of some of the issues which FGM has on women and children. Further information is at:https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/female-genital-mutilation/

Stem Cells: Transplant Surgery

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding NHS England has provided for stem cell transplant centres since 2015; and how many stem cell transplant centres there are.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information is available for 2015/16 and 2016/17. For these years, NHS England provided a total of £370 million funding to provide stem cell transplants for patients for a variety of conditions. These treatments were provided in 44 NHS trusts across the country

Stem Cells: Donors

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are registered as stem cell donors on the NHS stem cell registry; and what proportion of people who are registered as stem cell donors are from black and ethnic minority ethnic backgrounds.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Around 1.3 million people are registered on the United Kingdom’s Aligned Registry. Approximately 15% of these people are from black and ethnic minority ethnic backgrounds.

Stem Cells: Donors

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much Government funding has been provided to (a) NHS Blood and Transplant and (b) Anthony Nolan for stem cell donation since 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: £17,093,000 has been provided to NHS Blood and Transplant for stem cell donation since 2015. £3,394,000 has been provided to Anthony Nolan for stem cell donation since 2015.

Baby Care Units

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for NHS England to publish the Neonatal Critical Care Clinical Reference Group’s draft report of the neonatal care review.

Jackie Doyle-Price: A draft report of the neonatal care review will be consulted upon before being finalised; however, this draft will not be published. A final version of the findings and recommendations of the review will be published upon completion.

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning from exposure in their homes to (a) solid wood, (b) gas and (c) other fuel burning appliances since 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) hospital admissions and (b) deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in each year since 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Data are not collected in the format requested. In 2015, Public Health England (PHE) contributed towards a paper with Health Protection Research Unit staff which reported that based on analysis of data for the period 2001-10, the annual average of the accidental non-fire-related carbon monoxide (CO) hospital admissions was 250; the paper can be viewed here: https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/38/1/76/2362876 There have been no further estimations. Annually, there are around 25 deaths from accidental CO poisoning in England and Wales. The data about the number of deaths from accidental poisoning by carbon monoxide in England and Wales from 2007-16 can be found in the latest Cross Government Group On Gas Safety And Carbon Monoxide Awareness 2017 report, which can be viewed here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/cross-government-group.htm PHE is involved in a number of activities aimed at improving knowledge and awareness of the risks and harms of CO. More information can be viewed here: https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2015/12/15/carbon-monoxide-the-silent-killer/

NHS: Managers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions have NHS Trusts received concerns about alleged unfitness to practice of trust directors since the Fit and Proper Persons Regulations came into force; how many of those concerns led to an (a) internal and (b) independent investigation.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS Improvement, which supports foundation trusts and National Health Service trusts to give patients consistently safe, high quality, compassionate care within local health systems that are financially sustainable, has provided the following response. NHS Improvement has not published any guidance about the Fit and Proper Persons Requirement and neither does it centrally collect any data in relation to the number of Fit and Proper Persons Requirement concerns raised.NHS Improvement has a specific responsibility in relation to the appointment of Chairs and Non-Executive Directors of the 80 NHS trusts: it will check before a Chair or Non-Executive Director is appointed to make sure they are fit for their role. NHS Improvement is not aware of any cases relating to the Chairs or Non-Executive Directors of NHS trusts where it has been necessary, after appointment, to conduct a Fit and Proper Persons Requirement investigation. The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which is responsible for checking that providers are meeting the Fit and Proper Persons requirement, has provided the following response. Since the Fit and Proper Persons Regulations came into force, NHS trusts have received, from the CQC, concerns about alleged unfitness to practice of trust directors on 37 occasions. Of those concerns received, seven led to a formal internal investigation that the CQC is aware. 15 led to an external investigation that the CQC is aware.

NHS: Managers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions the Care Quality Commission (a) received concerns from third parties about an alleged lack of fitness of a trust director and (b) notified the relevant trust of those concerns since the Fit and Proper Persons Regulations came into force.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) which assesses the Fit and Proper Persons Requirement (FPPR) as part of its overall inspection and assessment framework has provided the following response. Since the FPPR came into force the Care Quality Commission has:- Received concerns from third parties1 about an alleged lack of fitness of a trust director on 62 occasions; and- Of those concerns received, 37 were notified to the relevant trust.The CQC’s practice from November 2014 (when the regulation came into effect) was to triage referrals to trusts, which explains why not all were passed on to the trusts. In the CQC’s new FPPR guidance of 25 January 2018, the CQC’s policy intention is to pass all referrals covered by the regulation to the trusts. The 25 referrals that were not forwarded to the trusts may be due to one or more of the following reasons:- The individuals referred were not covered by the FPPR regulation;- The Director(s) had left the trust;- There was no substantive evidence to support the allegations;- The evidence submitted was not in relation to FPPR;- The CQC was waiting on an anti-fraud investigation/Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigation; and- Consent was not received from the referrer to share the information with the trust. Note: 1Third parties do not include CQC inspectors.

Nurses: Training

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the number of people enrolling for postgraduate nursing degrees of (a) removing the bursary for postgraduate nursing students and (b) the debt that such people will have incurred from undergraduate degree loans.

Stephen Barclay: It is not possible to make a full assessment of the effect of moving pre-registration postgraduate healthcare students onto the standard loan system on student enrolment before the close of the application cycle. In July 2016 the Government published a revised economic impact assessment alongside the response to its consultation: Reforming healthcare education funding: creating a sustainable future workforce. A revised version of the original Equality Analysis, published in February 2018 to accompany the reforms to pre-registration postgraduate healthcare funding, can be found with the aforementioned documents at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changing-how-healthcare-education-is-funded Following implementation of the policy, the Department will look for suitable opportunities, including through existing stakeholder forums, to monitor developments. In order to meet the growing need to increase the future supply of registered nurses, additional clinical placement funding was announced by the Department in August and October 2017. This will enable around 5,000 more nursing students to enter training each year from September 2018; an historic 25% increase.

Mental Health Services: Sunderland

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the total spending on mental health (a) prescriptions, (b) packages and (c) other services by Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17 and (iii) 2017-18.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The expenditure made by Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on mental health services for 2015/16 and 2016/17 is made available by NHS England in the Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard, at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/taskforce/imp/mh-dashboard This shows the total spend on mental health by Sunderland CCG in was £67,892,000 in 2015/16, and £71,772,000 in 2016/17. Information on 2017/18 expenditure is not yet available. The total spending on mental health prescriptions dispensed in the community by Sunderland CCG for the years requested is shown in the following table. Mental health prescriptions dispensed in the community by Sunderland CCG in 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18. PeriodDrug GroupNet Ingredient Cost (£)2015/16Mental Health Drugs3,620,562.172016/17Mental Health Drugs3,262,792.80April 2017 - December 2017Mental Health Drugs2,702,972.71 Source: NHS Business Services Authority Information Services Data Warehouse. Note: The data is based on items prescribed by Sunderland CCG and dispensed in England.

Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Report of the Liverpool Community Health Independent Review, published in January 2018, if he will publish a list of the (a) persons and (b) bodies that (i) refused to give evidence to that inquiry and (ii) received warning letters before the publication of that report.

Stephen Barclay: This information is not held centrally.

Tobacco

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of commissioning independent specialist bodies to undertake replication studies of manufacturer-supplied data relating to the harm reduction potential of heat-not-burn tobacco products.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) published its most recent evidence review on e-cigarettes and novel tobacco products on 6 February this year. It contains a chapter dedicated to heat not burn tobacco products, including suggestions for further research. PHE will publish further such evidence reviews on an annual basis. Heat not burn products continue to be regulated as tobacco products and their use and public awareness in the United Kingdom is low. The Department will review and consider where there are gaps in evidence for further independent research, and continues to collaborate and share knowledge both in the UK and internationally to help develop the research base and understanding of these products.

Mental Health Services: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the average waiting time for a mental health assessment and therapy in (a) Coventry South borough and (b) West Midlands in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to reducing waiting times for mental health therapies across England. Performance against Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) waiting time standards continues to improve and we are consistently exceeding the targets. According to the 2016-17 Improving Access to Psychological Therapies annual report, 98.2% of those people completing treatment waited less than 18 weeks for their treatment to start in England against a target of 95% and 87.5% of people completing treatment waited less than six weeks against a target of 75%.Source: NHS Digital (February 2018) Psychological Therapies: Annual Report on the use of IAPT services - England, 2016-17. http://www.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30232 Data is presented in the attached table. 



Mental Health Assessment Waiting Times
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Nurses: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses were employed in Coventry in each of the last five years.

Stephen Barclay: The workforce information held by NHS Digital is not held at the level of specific constituencies or towns as these are not recognised health geographies. NHS Digital publishes workforce information for the National Health Service in trusts and clinical commissioning groups. The trusts tend to cover a larger geographic area than a constituency or town and do not have defined catchments, therefore this data is not available in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Hospital Beds

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average national bed occupancy rate was for (a) adult and (b) child adolescent inpatient psychiatric wards in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data is not available in the format requested. NHS England collects quarterly data from all National Health Service organisations on available overnight and day only beds and the total number of occupied bed days by consultant led specialty (excluding critical care beds). Occupancy rates for mental illness beds can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/

NHS: Complaints

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many formal complaints (a) mental health services and (b) the NHS received in each region in each month since January 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 20 February 2018 to Question 127767.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of people referred to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies waited less than (a) six and (b) 18 weeks for their first appointment to receive treatment in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to reducing waiting times for mental health therapies across England. Data are presented in the table below: Percentage of referrals which finished a course of treatment in the year waiting less than six and 18 weeks to enter treatment, England, 2015-16 and 2016-17 Reporting PeriodPercentage of referrals which finished a course of treatment waiting less than six weeks to enter treatmentPercentage of referrals which finished a course of treat waiting less than 18 weeks to enter treatment2015-1681.3%96.2%2016-1787.5%98.2%Source: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset, NHS DigitalThis data shows that we are exceeding the national waiting time standards for IAPT.It should be noted that the national waiting times target, and the methodology used, changed in the 2014/15 reporting year. For this reason, waiting times published in 2015-16 and 2016-17 are not comparable with previous years and have therefore not been included in this response.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in the Hove constituency.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) on 26 February 2018 to Question 128962.

Sepsis: Health Education

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of sepsis.

Caroline Dinenage: Public Health England (PHE) launched a sepsis campaign in partnership with the UK Sepsis Trust and the Department in December 2016. The campaign ran until April 2017 and raised awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis amongst parents of young children and helped them know when to seek urgent medical help. In 2017/18 PHE continue to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis with substantial developments in activity including: building sepsis messaging into the national Start4life Information Service for Parents email programme which reaches 430,000 parents of zero to five year olds; distribution of leaflets and posters; and the provision of a content-rich social media toolkit for partners to use on their own channels. In addition, PHE is working in partnership with Mumsnet, a leading digital platform for parents, to raise awareness through editorial and social media promotion. In September 2017, NHS England published the second Cross-System Sepsis Action Plan and the Sepsis guidance implementation advice for adults which are available to view here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cross-system-sepsis-action-plan-2017/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/sepsis-guidance-implementation-advice-for-adults.pdf

Sepsis: Sheffield

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of sepsis there were in Sheffield in each of the last five years; and how that number compares to other regions throughout the UK.

Caroline Dinenage: Data are not available in the format requested. Cases of sepsis can only be identified where a hospital admission has occurred; therefore collected figures exclude cases treated without the patient being admitted to hospital. The table attached provides a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of sepsis, for England, by clinical commissioning group of residence, 2012-13 to 2016-17. A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. Data are not collected on number of people who have sepsis but are not aware of it. Sepsis is a devastating condition that we need to get better at spotting across the National Health Service. By raising awareness and improving clinical practice we will save lives in the fight against this horrible illness. Better awareness has led to more cases of sepsis being detected across all age groups. We estimate that our cross system efforts since 2015 have saved over a thousand lives but we know there is more to do and this is why a new action plan was launched in September 2017 to ensure the NHS is on the highest possible alert to tackle this silent killer.



Finished Admission Episodes Sepsis
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Sepsis

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of people who have sepsis but are not aware of it.

Caroline Dinenage: Data are not available in the format requested. Cases of sepsis can only be identified where a hospital admission has occurred; therefore collected figures exclude cases treated without the patient being admitted to hospital. The table attached provides a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of sepsis, for England, by clinical commissioning group of residence, 2012-13 to 2016-17. A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. Data are not collected on number of people who have sepsis but are not aware of it. Sepsis is a devastating condition that we need to get better at spotting across the National Health Service. By raising awareness and improving clinical practice we will save lives in the fight against this horrible illness. Better awareness has led to more cases of sepsis being detected across all age groups. We estimate that our cross system efforts since 2015 have saved over a thousand lives but we know there is more to do and this is why a new action plan was launched in September 2017 to ensure the NHS is on the highest possible alert to tackle this silent killer.

Mental Illness: Debts

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the Breathing Space initiative to people accessing mental health services; and if he will hold discussions on that matter with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Jackie Doyle-Price: HM Treasury ran a consultation ‘Breathing Space – a call for evidence’ from 24 October 2017 to 16 January 2018. The consultation sought to gain further insight from the debt advice sector and creditors about how best to design, implement, administer and monitor a six-week breathing space scheme and statutory debt management plan. The call for evidence covered the following, broad, topics:- how to access and then enter a six-week breathing space;- how a breathing space could work for creditors and debtors; and- how to best design a statutory debt management plan.The consultation also asked about the characteristics of who should be able to access a Breathing Space scheme. We will consider the responses to the consultation and it will be published in due course.

Vaccination: Expenditure

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127364, how much was spent in total on vaccination programmes in each of the last five years; and what the total expenditure on each individual vaccine programme was during that time period.

Steve Brine: The expenditure on adult and childhood vaccines consumed in each of the last five years is disclosed in the Department’s published annual financial statements and is as follows:  2016/17 £’0002015/16 £’0002014/15 £’0002013/14 £’0002012/13 £’000Adult and childhood vaccines consumed/disposed of391,470364,831318,156308,925221,606 The amounts disclosed cover vaccine costs for adult and childhood vaccination programmes procured centrally and those that are locally procured by general practitioners and pharmacies and reimbursed. These amounts are recognised as a cost to the Department in the accounts. Other costs associated with delivering vaccination programmes, such as the cost of administering vaccines and the prescribing fees for those vaccines that are locally procured, which are met by NHS England, and the cost of national cold chain storage and distribution of vaccines, vaccine ordering services, communications, contract management and data collection and surveillance, which sit with Public Health England, are not included above as information is not held centrally in this format. Breakdown on individual vaccination programmes cannot be given as it is commercially sensitive.

Vaccination: Children

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127366, how many local authority areas met the 95 per cent uptake target for childhood immunisation programmes in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The number of local authorities (LAs) achieving the 95% coverage at 12 months of age are shown in the table below:YearTotal number of LAsDiphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (DTaP/IPV/Hib)Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)Rotavirus2016-17149686692015-161498074No data published2014-151498175No data published2013-141499182No data published2012-13151 primary care trusts (PCT)9785No data published The number of LAs achieving the 95% coverage at 24 months of age are shown in the table below:YearTotal number of LAsDTaP/IPV/Hib primaryMeasles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) first doseHib/Meningitis C boosterPCV booster2016-171491073733342015-161491073737332014-151491073839442013-141491225149502012-13151 PCTs125345552 The number of LAs achieving the 95% coverage at five years of age are shown in the table below:YearTotal number of LAsDTaP/IPV/Hib primaryDTaP/IPV boosterMMR first doseMMR first and second doseHib/MenC booster2016-1714911051017512015-1614910959314462014-15149112188111402013-1414911011738392012-13151 PCTs1171366434Source: Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics, England.Notes:2016-17 http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB300852015-16 http://www.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB216512014-15 http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB184722013-14 http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB149492012-13 http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB11665The above data is based upon 149 local authorities, as Rutland is included in Leicestershire, City of London in Hackney and the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall. The data in 2012-13 was recorded by PCT rather than LA. Rotavirus vaccine was recently introduced in July 2013 and was only included as a National Statistic from 2016-17. We have defined ‘reached 95%’ as more than or equal to 95.0% (so those achieving 94.9% will not be counted).

NHS Trusts: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17, if he will place in the Library the depreciation overspend or underspend against plan for NHS Trusts in each financial year since 2010-11.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will place in the Library the anticipated depreciation overspend or underspend for his Department in 2017-18.

Stephen Barclay: The term ‘National Health Service trusts’ has been interpreted as meaning NHS providers, which include NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts. The Department does not set budgets to this level of disaggregation for the NHS provider sector. NHS providers fund their spending, via income received from NHS commissioners in return for the provision of healthcare services to their local population. Depreciation spending outturns for each year since 2010-11 are reported in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts. Spending depreciation on property, plant and equipment and amortisation of intangible assets for NHS providers each year since 2010-11 is listed in the table below. Year£0002010-111,922,0242011-121,995,8652012-132,154,0222013-142,139,8402014-152,163,8232015-162,186,3902016-172,194,462 The Department has an agreed ring-fenced budget for depreciation spending, however depreciation spending by NHS providers is not included within this ring-fenced budget. That budget for 2017-18 is £1,511 million, as reported in the 2016-17 Annual Report and Accounts. Total spending against this budget will be reported in the Annual Report and Accounts 2017-18 due to be published later this year.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Domestic Visits: North West

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has visited (a) St Helens, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West since his appointment; and if he will set out the details of any such visits.

Suella Fernandes: Ministers from the Department of Exiting the European Union have visited the North West of England on a number of occasions since the Referendum. The Government is committed to positive and productive engagement with businesses and local government in the North West, as well as all of the UK, and will continue to work closely with them to understand the potential impact and opportunities presented by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The Secretary of State also met the Combined Authority Mayors for Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester in October 2017.

Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127187, which individual, Department or Directorate commissioned that document.

Mr Robin Walker: As set out in our response to Question 127187, the work is a cross-Whitehall exercise, leveraging the best expertise from each department. It has not been led by any single Department, nor indeed any single Directorate. As with all the Government’s work on EU exit, DExEU plays a coordinating role, working with the relevant Departments across Whitehall.

European Research Group

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he or ministers of his Department have met the with the European Research Group since taking office.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has discussed the letter of 16 February to the Prime Minister from the European Research Group with any of the officers of the European Research Group.

Mr Robin Walker: Ministers regularly engage with MPs to discuss a wide range of topics, however, as the European Research Group does not have a published list of members, the Department does not hold information pertaining to the group. Details of Ministerial and senior official meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Customs

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 4 of the Government's paper, Future customs arrangements: a future partnership, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment of the two options proposed in that paragraph 4.

Mr Robin Walker: In assessing the options for the UK's future outside the Customs Union, the Government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK, and by three strategic objectives:ensuring UK-EU trade is as frictionless as possible;avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland;establishing an independent trade policy. The Government is undertaking a wide range of ongoing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. Our future partnership paper reflects the deep engagement the Government has sought from external parties with expertise on each policy area. An Impact Assessment is a specific document, which often accompanies a major bill or regulation to illustrate the effects of the changes. We will, of course, continue to publish Impact Assessments to accompany legislation, where appropriate.

Brexit: Greater London

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with (a) The Mayor of London and (b) Members of the GLA on the effect on London of the Greater London Authority report, Preparing for Brexit, published in January 2018.

Suella Fernandes: The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has met with the Mayor of London several times since the Referendum. At their last meeting on the 11 September 2017 they discussed key issues relevant to London with regard to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The Government is committed to positive and productive engagement with the Mayor of London and will continue to work closely with him to understand the potential impact and opportunities presented by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Former Members

Luke Pollard: To ask the Prime Minister, how many former Conservative Members of Parliament who were defeated at the general election 2017 and who now work in her Office were appointed after a publicly advertised and open recruitment process.

Mrs Theresa May: Special advisers are appointed in accordance with the rules on the appointment of Special Advisers set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, and in line with the Ministerial Code and the Special Adviser Code of Conduct.A named list of all special advisers was published in December, as per the Written Ministerial Statement of 14 December 2017, Official Report, HCWS352. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs-december-2017

China: Visits Abroad

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister, how many members of the UK delegation were of UK-Chinese origin during her recent visit to China.

Mrs Theresa May: A list of the UK delegation is available on the gov.uk website.

Ministry of Justice

New Futures Network: Staff

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of staff who will be employed by the New Futures Network on 1 April 2018.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Crime: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase support for victims of crime in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of crime have access to a broad range of support services, to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects of crime. We are spending about £96m this year to fund critical support services for victims of crime, of which, £68m has been allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners to locally commission emotional and practical support services for victims of crime. In 2017/18 we have allocated: - PCC AreaGrant to PCCGrant Funding to Rape Support CentresNorth Yorkshire£948,483£43,812South Yorkshire£1,838,150£281,648West Yorkshire£2,674,679£240,966Humberside£1,120,595£143,624 To help meet increased demand we provided rape support centres with an in year 4% uplift in core funding. The PCC for South Yorkshire received an uplift of £226,750 on their 2017/18 grant as a contribution towards the Rotherham Fusion bid (Operation Stovewood), for the provision of additional Independent Sexual Violence Advisor support services. The PCC for Humberside received an uplift of £36,208 on their 2017/18 grant funding in recognition of the increased demand for local rape support services.

Prisoners' Release

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons provide prisoners with their possessions in a holdall on release.

Rory Stewart: It is policy that all prisoners are issued with a plain nylon bag to carry his or her property upon final release.

Prisons: Seized Articles

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 64325 and the Answer of 2 March 2018 to Question 64326, how many incidents of (a) drugs by weight, (b) SIM cards and (c) mobile phones were found in prisons in 2017.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice intends to routinely publish information on finds of mobile phones, SIM cards and drugs in the future. Data for 2017 will be provided in due course as part of the normal publication schedule athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-national-offender-management-service-digest-2016-to-2017

Prisons: Education

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 7023 on Prisons: Education, whether as part of the work to introduce a core common curriculum across the prison estate consideration will be given to including a module on discrimination, equality and hate crime.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: Education

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to encourage inmates to take up distant learning courses while in prison.

Rory Stewart: We are committed to making prisons places of rehabilitation and reform. Education in prisons remains focused on giving prisoners the skills and qualifications they will need to secure jobs on release. Most prisoners who study Higher Education (HE) in custody do so through the Open University (OU) via distance learning. Eligible prisoners have access to Tuition Fee loans to support their studies. Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) works collaboratively with the OU to help prisoners undertake HE. The prison Virtual Campus e-learning platform includes a range of OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers. Many students in prison begin their OU studies with an Access module studied through distance learning which is funded by HMPPS via the Prisoners Education Trust’s (PET) ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. HMPPS also funds PET to provide grants to prisoners to study Level 3 courses via distance learning arrangements.

Road Traffic Offences: Mobile Phones

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of the offence of using their mobile phone while driving in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The number of convictions for use of a mobile phone whilst driving can be found in the motoring data tool in the annual criminal justice system statistics publication at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2016

Council Tax: Non-payment

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of people sent to prison for council tax non-payment were women in each year from 2010 to 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: The number of women and men admitted to prison for non-payment: Community charge / Council Tax can be viewed in Table A2.11 at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/610978/receptions-2016.xlsx Data covering 2017 is due for publication in April 2018.

Sexual Offences: British Nationals Abroad

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times s72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 has been invoked in each year since it gained Royal assent.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prison and Probation Service: Occupational Health

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there is a standard service level agreement for contracted-out occupational health services provided on behalf of Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prison and Probation Service: Occupational Health

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there was a standard service level agreement for contracted out occupational health services on behalf of HM Prison and Probation Service at the time those services were contracted out to a third party service provider in July 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: There was a standard service level agreement for contracted-out occupational health services for HM Prison and Probation Service in July 2017. However, the new occupational health services contract, which came in to effect in October 2017, has stricter and more stringent service levels.

Prison and Probation Service: Occupational Health

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he has plans to introduce variations in the standard service level agreement for contracted out services for Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service Occupational Health service.

Dr Phillip Lee: The new standard service level agreement - with supplier OH Assist - for contracted out Occupational Health services for Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service has the flexibility for the introduction of future variations at any point during its four year duration, depending on operational need and in line with Public Contract Regulations. As part of the Secretary of State’s strategy for prison reform, new freedoms have been afforded to Governors that enable prisons to leave national contracts, like the OH Assist Occupational Health Services contract, in order to make their own local arrangements.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many open cases were transferred to the third party service provider HML when that company's contract started July 2017.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice does not have any contractual relationship with the third-party service provider HML and no cases have been transferred.

Prison and Probation Service: Occupational Health

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what date will standard service level agreements for occupational health services for personnel of Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service come into effect with its third party service provider.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: Education

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to maximise the use of voluntary sector expertise within the new Prison Education Specification.

Rory Stewart: On 8 February, we published our invitation to tender to procure successor prison education contracts. We are empowering our governors, giving them the power to tailor education and training to the needs of their prisoners, including improving English and maths skills. The new contracts mean governors will choose which contractors to commission to provide this.Alongside this framework, governors will be able to commission specialist providers to complement the main educational provision. We will engage widely with prospective providers to encourage them to consider participating in this new arrangement. We will ensure voluntary sector organisations are included in the engagement activity.

Prison Service: Hepatitis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff contracted Hepatitis C from prisoners in each year since 2009-10.

Dr Phillip Lee: We take the safety of those in our care and our staff extremely seriously. There have been no reported cases of Hepatitis C transmission from prisoner to staff since 2009 to date. HMPPS staff receive education and training on safe systems of work which reduces the risk of staff contracting Hepatitis C. Use of blood spillage kits are used by trained individuals only. There is no preventative vaccine to protect against Hepatitis C therefore post exposure management such as immediate first aid followed by appropriate risk assessment is essential. There is a specialist team in HMPPS which can deal with such incidents.

Prisoners: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of suicides which took place in prisons were by people who were not on the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork programme in prison in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Victim Support Schemes

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average salary for a Victim Liason Officer has been in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Victim Liaison Officers have been employed in each region in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Victim Liaison Officers have been employed in each constituency in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: This information is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Victim Support Schemes

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average caseload has been by region for a Victim Liaison Officer in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government is carrying out a review of the Transparency of the Parole Board and victim support, which we expect will be concluded by Easter, when will set out our next steps. We have already made good progress in making victim contact more compassionate, clearer and more informative, the ongoing review will ensure we improve services and better support victims.The staffing budget dedicated to the Victim Contact Scheme has increased from £8.0 million to £9.6 million since the creation of the NPS in 2014 and the number of VLOs has increased nationally from 169 to 189 staff over the same period. There has also been a significant increase in the number of administrative staff, from 47 to 76 posts, employed to support the work of VLOs, which has freed up VLOs so they can focus on better supporting victims. The information requested by the hon Member for Leeds East, Richard Burgon, is not available. The current national victim’s database was only introduced in April 2016 and data migration of active cases from previous databases was not fully completed until February 2017. Data currently held on the national victims’ database indicates that the average caseload by region for the last two years for a Victim Liaison Officer is as follows: LondonMidlandsNENWSESWWalesNov 2016278258183249242257139Nov 2017180224179211213248229

Prison Officers: Recruitment

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Government meets its target of recruiting 2,500 new prison officers by December 2018; what progress has been made on meeting that target; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: In 2016 the former Secretary of State announced HMPPS would be recruiting an additional 2,500 prison officers by December 2018. Good progress is being made to hit this target, with 1,970 additional officers recruited by 31st December 2017. These new staff will reduce the need for Detached Duty. A further 1,582 new recruits have been offered roles and are booked onto Prison Officer Training (POELT) courses, meaning the Government is on target to recruit the 2,500 officers nine months ahead of schedule. The HMPPS workforce statistics published on 15 February 2018 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-december-2017

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of recladding tower blocks that have combustible cladding in England.

Dominic Raab: The cost of recladding a tower block varies significantly depending on the individual characteristics of the building.My Department has made clear that it considers that building owners should take responsibility for funding fire safety measures including replacement of dangerous cladding. Government will consider financial flexibilities for local authorities who need to undertake essential fire safety work to make a building safe.

Planning Permission: North Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new build planning approvals there were in North Cornwall constituency in each year since 2010.

Dominic Raab: Numbers of major and minor residential planning applications decided by each local authority district, in the year to 30 September 2017, are shown in Live Table P136 at the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statisticsEarlier versions of table P136 are also available from the same link:those for years ending July 2012 to June 2017 are under the heading, “Historical live Tables”, andthose for years ending September 2010 to June 2012 are available from the relevant link to the National Archives.These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

Housing: North Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes were built in North Cornwall constituency in each year since 2010, and how many of those homes were affordable homes.

Dominic Raab: Estimates of house building for new build dwellings completions for England and in each local authority district, to September quarter 2017, are shown in Live Table 253a at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-buildingThese cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The Department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.More comprehensive statistics on additional affordable housing provided by local authority and private registered providers (housing association) are published in the Department’s live tables at:http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyTable 1008C provides all additional affordable dwellings provided (new build and acquisitions) by local authority area. Separate figures for ‘social rent’, ‘affordable rent’ and ‘intermediate (shared ownership and intermediate rent)’ housing are shown in Tables 1006c, 1006a and 1007c respectively.These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to list all meetings Ministers of his Department held with external stakeholders in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) between 1 January and 30 June 2017 in which fire safety standards in public housing were discussed.

Dominic Raab: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on Gov.uk and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data

Landlords: Registration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a compulsory registration scheme for landlords.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward a system of compulsory licensing of landlords.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government does not support a mandatory register of private landlords. The majority of landlords provide decent and well managed accommodation and requiring those landlords to sign up to a national register would introduce an unnecessary and costly additional layer of bureaucracy.Mandatory licensing is already in place for higher risk rental properties, larger houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). We consulted extensively on changes to the scope of mandatory licensing. There was broad support for extending this to include all HMOs with five or more occupiers. We published our response to our HMO reforms consultation in December 2017, and laid The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018 in February. Where there are problems with smaller HMOs in a particular area, local housing authorities have the discretionary power to introduce additional HMO licensing.Local housing authorities are also able to introduce selective licensing of landlords in targeted areas to tackle specific problems, as long as the statutory requirements are met. We have committed to a review of selective licensing and will announce further details on the review after Easter recess.

Housing: Construction

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to encourage the use of quick build, flat pack homes for social and affordable housing.

Dominic Raab: I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 124260 on 29 January 2018.In addition to the measures set out in that answer, we specifically encourage use of modern and innovative methods of construction through the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21. This includes offsite construction and we expect to fund an increasing number of bids using either partial or fully offsite or innovative methods of construction within the Programme.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has held with Kensington and Chelsea Council on the provision of (a) housing and (b) other support services for individuals bereaved by the Grenfell Tower fire who do not have (i) settled immigration status in the UK and (ii) recourse to public funds but who are core participants in the Grenfell Inquiry.

Dominic Raab: My Department has regular discussions with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on housing and other support services for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, including some who do not have settled immigration status. The Government will ensure that, subject to usual checks, all those who are required to either provide evidence in person, or to be in the UK to participate in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will be allowed to do so.

Housing: Construction

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that new developments benefit first-time buyers and rather than buy-to-let landlords.

Dominic Raab: This Government introduced the 'Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme' to help more first-time buyers and others to buy a new home. Since 2013 it has supported 116,898 first-time buyers into homeownership, which is 81 per cent of all buyers through the scheme. We have also announced greater funding for new Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy properties, and the Housing White Paper set out our plans for starter homes.In addition, we have prioritised first-time buyers though our recent reforms to Stamp Duty, ensuring that first-time buyers are exempt from the tax on purchases of properties up to £300,000. Those buying a property between £300,000 and £500,000 will only be liable on the premium above £300,000. This reform should help 95 per cent of first-time buyers and give them a distinct advantage over buy-to-let investors, who are now subject to a higher Stamp Duty charge.

Housing: Telford

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) new-build planning approvals were granted and (b) how many new houses were built in Telford constituency in each year since 2010.

Dominic Raab: 1. Numbers of major and minor residential planning applications decided by each local authority district, in the year to 30 September 2017, are shown in Live Table P136 at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statisticsEarlier versions of table P136 are also available from the same link:those for years ending July 2012 to June 2017 are under the heading, “Historical Live Tables”, andthose for years ending September 2010 to June 2012 are available from the relevant link to the National Archives.These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.2. Estimates of house building for new build dwellings completions for England and in each local authority district, to September quarter 2017, are shown in Live Table 253a at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-buildingThese cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

Housing: Telford

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking increase the provision of starter homes in Telford constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: We are supporting people's aspirations to buy through a range of initiatives including Help to Buy, Right to Buy, greater funding for Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy, and our plans for starter homes. Since Spring 2010 Government-backed schemes have helped over 433,000 households to buy a home and the number of first-time buyers is at a nine-year annual high. At the last Budget, the Government announced that first-time buyers will pay zero stamp duty on the first £300,000 of any home that costs up to £500,000.The definition of starter homes is being finalised as part of the revised draft National Planning Policy Framework, which we will be publishing shortly.

Regeneration

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding is available to regenerate and renew new town infrastructure.

Dominic Raab: The 2017 Autumn Budget set out government's ambition to deliver five new garden towns. Government will bring together public and private capital to deliver these new towns in areas of high demand, and work with local partners and the private sector to do so. We are determined that housing growth is supported by the right infrastructure at the right time. Our £5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund shows just how serious we are about that.There are a range of further funding sources available to support the development of housing and the associated infrastructure required. Mayoral combined authorities in particular have devolved funds and could allocate parts of their Investment Funds towards supporting this. Government also committed in the 2017 Autumn Budget to publish a consultation on changes to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and developer contributions, which will help the public sector capture rising land values from additional public investment. The government will also encourage authorities to explore the introduction of a Strategic Infrastructure Tariff, in addition to CIL, supported by appropriate governance arrangements.

New Towns

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on the future of New Towns.

Dominic Raab: Across England, we are currently supporting 24 locally-led garden communities to be exemplars of high quality, good design and best practice. Together, they have the potential to deliver up to 220,000 homes. Our support has helped foster local ambition to accelerate the pace of delivery, with over 12,000 new homes started. This support has included provision of £19 million of capacity funding expert delivery advice from Homes England and cross-government brokerage to resolve barriers.At Autumn Budget 2017 we announced we will extend this support to the delivery of a further 5 locally led garden towns that will seek to bring together public and private capital. To deliver on this ambition we will introduce legislation to enable locally accountable New Town Development Corporations to be created as a key instrument of delivery.

Council Tax: Offenders

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of people who served time in prison for each year between 2010 and 2017 for not paying their council tax had (a) a full means assessment undertaken (b) their caring responsibilities taken into account by the court and (c) their mental health needs assessed prior to their committal.

Rishi Sunak: The responsibility for sentencing administration rests with the Magistrates courts, which are overseen by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. Magistrates courts should consider imprisonment for non-payment of council tax only if the failure to pay is due to the individual's wilful refusal or culpable neglect. Local council tax support schemes are available to those householders on low incomes who have difficulty in paying their council tax.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish his Department’s response to the consultation on the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (England) Regulations 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: The results of the consultation are currently being analysed. The Government’s response to the review of 'The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (England) Regulations 2015' must take account of the recommendations from the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, led by Dame Judith Hackitt. The response will follow publication of the final report of the Hackitt Review, expected to be submitted in Spring 2018.

Leasehold

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on its proposals for leasehold reform for people currently living in leasehold properties.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders.On 21 December 2017, the Government set out a package of measures to tackle abuses and unfair practices in the leasehold market. This includes introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances; restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value), and working with the Law Commission to support existing leaseholders which includes making buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper.A number of developers have introduced schemes to compensate existing leaseholders affected by onerous ground rents, but these must go further and faster. The Government wants to see this support extended to all those with onerous ground rents, including second hand buyers, and for customers to be proactively contacted. The then Housing Minister wrote to developers on 21 December 2017 to set out this position. We will be keeping a close eye on progress and will consider measures that could be pursued to take action if necessary.

Unitary Councils

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on the creation of new unitary authorities.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses for the creation of new unitary authorities.

Rishi Sunak: Our policy as stated in my Department’s Single Departmental Plan is that we will consider proposals for unitarisation and mergers when requested, and reach a judgment in-the-round as to whether the proposal, if implemented, is likely to improve the area’s local government, commands a good deal of local support in the area and whether the area itself is a credible geography for the proposed new structures.

Unitary Councils

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authorities his Department has had discussions with on unitary authority status in the 12 months.

Rishi Sunak: My Department has frequent discussions with local authorities on a wide range of issues which may include discussions about unitary authority status.

Wolverhampton City Council: Local Government Finance

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the local government grant given to City of Wolverhampton Council was in each of the last seven years.

Rishi Sunak: Wolverhampton City Council will have available £876.7 million in Core Spending Power between 2016/17 to 2019/20.Information on Wolverhampton’s Revenue Support Grant funding can be found on line at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing.

Social Rented Housing: Waiting Lists

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the number of people on waiting lists for social housing.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Since 2010, the number of households on local authority waiting lists has reduced by over 33 per cent from 1.74 million in 2010 to 1.16 million in 2017. We have given local authorities flexibility to manage their waiting lists, alongside action we have taken to build more affordable homes.We are supporting social landlords to build even more homes, including homes for social rent for those in housing need who are currently waiting. Since 2010, we have delivered over 357,000 new affordable homes, including over 257,000 affordable homes for rent. We have recently announced an additional £2 billion funding for our flexible Affordable Homes Programme, increasing the budget to over £9 billion.We are also undertaking a wide-ranging review of issues affecting social housing and intend to publish a Green Paper in the Spring.

Unitary Councils

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers his Department has to create new unitary authorities.

Rishi Sunak: The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, together with the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, provide powers for the Secretary of State, subject to Parliamentary approval, to implement, by secondary legislation proposals for unitarisation made by one or more councils in the area.

Local Growth Deals: Ayrshire

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of 22 January 2018, Official Report, column 20, who the backers of the Ayrshire Growth Deal are; and when last he met those backers.

Jake Berry: The proposed Ayrshire Growth Deal is backed by the three Ayrshire local authorities, namely East Ayrshire Council, North Ayrshire Council and South Ayrshire Council; as well as the Ayrshire Economic Partnership, which includes representatives from Scottish Enterprise, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry and individual business leaders working alongside the three local authorities.As part of wider government discussions I met Patrick Wiggins, the Director of the Ayrshire Growth Deal, on 14 November 2017.

Sleeping Rough

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make a statement setting out the implications for his Department's policy on rough sleeping of the publication of Rough sleeping in England: autumn 2017.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: One person without a home is one too many and we are determined to tackle this issue.The recently established Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce will design and drive forward the implementation of our cross-government strategy to achieve our commitment of halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027. This strategy will include a timeline and action plan for meeting this commitment and will be published by July this year.

Supported Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of effect of the proposals in his  Department's paper, Funding for Suported Housing published on 31 October 2017, on the provision of new short-term supported housing (a) 2020-21,  (b) 2021-22, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2024-25.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The same amount of funding that would have been available through Housing Benefit or housing element of Universal Credit to fund supported housing in 2020/21 will be made available as grant instead.The amount of short term supported housing grant funding for subsequent years will be set on the basis of current projections of future need (as informed by discussions with local authorities) and will continue to take account of the costs of provision in this part of the sector.The short-term accommodation grant will remove the financial risk that providers face in relation to voids and arrears, enabling organisations to focus on the most important task of supporting their vulnerable tenants. It will also help people to move-on without carrying a legacy of rent arrears and debt.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on the upkeep of roads in common parts of commonhold housing developments.

Dominic Raab: Where applicable, obligations concerning the upkeep of roads in common parts of commonhold developments should be set out in a commonhold community statement. This document defines the boundaries of the commonhold units and sets out the rights and obligations of unit holders and the commonhold association.

High Rise Flats: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent representations he has received from Birmingham City Council on funding to carry out extensive works to 213 tower blocks on the advice of West Midlands Fire Service; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: The Department has received and responded to several letters from Birmingham City councillors about general works they are undertaking to enhance the safety of their residential blocks.If any local authority has carried out assessments and identified essential measures to address building specific issues, then they should get in touch with the Department with further details. This will allow Department officials to discuss the position and work with them on the way forward.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were employed directly by his Department on zero-hours contracts in each of the last eight years.

Jake Berry: The Department has had fewer than five zero-hours contracts during the last eight years. Presenting this information in the format requested is deemed to be unsuitable for release on the grounds of data protection and the risk of identifying certain individuals.

Ministry of Defence

Amey and Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 30 January 2018 to Question 124263 on Amey and Carillion, what costs to the public purse have been calculated in each of those contingency plans.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The preferred option implemented by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation was to invoke the joint and severable contractual obligation requirements of the Carillion and Amey Joint Venture. This was successfully implemented at no additional cost to the public purse.

Ministry of Defence: Energy

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using distributed energy systems across the defence estate.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Department is working to establish its future energy master plan. This plan will look at several possibilities for energy management including the use of distributed energy generation, battery storage and smart grid technology.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost of recruitment to the Army was in each of the last three full years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: Recruiting for the Army is delivered through the Recruiting Partnering Project; a 10 year output based contractual arrangement with a commercial partner. Under this partnership the costs of recruitment to Defence are shown below. These costs include recruiting services, IT systems, military salaries and infrastructure.  Financial Year2014-152015-162016-17Total£182 million£136 million£148 millionThese figures are single service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost per Army recruit was of (a) recruiting and (b) providing Phase 1 training for recruits (i) under 18 years and (ii) 18 years or above in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: The average cost of recruiting per enlistment in each of the last three years is shown in the table below. This cost is not determined by the age of the individual. Financial Year2014-152015-162016-17Cost Per Enlistment£13,000£10,000£12,000 Basic Training for Regular soldiers is delivered in four core training units: the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) which provides for most recruits under 18 (Junior Entry) and Infantry Training Centre (Catterick), Army Training Centre (Pirbright) and Army Training Regiment (Winchester) for Senior Entry training. Some under 18 recruits who are close enough to their 18th birthday conduct training in Standard Entry and therefore costs are not held by age. The average cost per Army recruit of providing Basic Training in these units is shown below: Army Foundation College (Harrogate): Financial Year 2015-162016-17 Junior Entry (Long)£87,000£86,000Junior Entry (Short)£39,000£37,000  Initial Training Centre Catterick (ITC) and Army Training Centre Pirbright (ATC(P))/ Army Training Regiment Winchester (ATR(W)): Financial Year2015-162016-17 ITC£28,000£27,000ATC(P)/ATR(W)£33,000£31,000  All figures are single service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. Information in this format is only available for the last two years due to a change in information systems used to record the information.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost per recruit to the Army Foundation College, Harrogate, for non-military training and education was in each of the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: The average cost per recruit of non-military training at the Army Foundation College in each of the last three years is shown below. Non-military training has been determined as the cost of functional skills education provision, BTEC qualifications and the sports and skills package delivered in the evening.  Financial Year2014-152015-162016-17Average cost per recruit£2,872£2,267£2,773 These figures are single service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of recruits who enlisted aged (a) under 18 and (b) over 18 years left the armed forces before completing (i) phase two training and (ii) the minimum initial service period in each of the last three full years for which figures are available.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, (a) how many  and (b) what proportion of recruits who enlisted aged (i) under 18 and (ii) over 18 years left the armed forces within four years of joining in each of the last three full years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: The requested information is provided in the attached table, excluding data on minimum initial service periods which could be provided only at disproportionate cost.



Stats on Under and Over 18's Service Personnel
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.27 KB)

Armed Forces: Young People

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel in the trained strength are under 18 years old.

Mark Lancaster: As at 1 October 2017 there were 69 Armed Forces personnel in the trained strength under 18 years. This is less than 0.1% of the total trained strength. Under 18s in the trained strength cannot be deployed on front line operations.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of service is for a soldier who enlists (a) aged over 18 years and (b) below 18 years old.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of service is for an infantry soldier who enlists (a) aged over 18 years and (b) below 18 years old.

Mark Lancaster: The average length of service for a soldier who enlists aged over 18 years old is nine years and nine months. The average for a soldier enlisting under 18 years old is 13 years and two months.For an infantry soldier who enlists aged over 18 years old, the average length of service is eight years and two months. The average for an infantry soldier enlisting under 18 years old is 11 years and two months.Notes: The figures exclude Ghurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service and Mobilised Reserves. This also excludes any soldiers who do not complete Initial Trade Training.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits (a) enlisted at and (b) completed Phase 1 training at (i) AFC Harrogate (ii) ATC Pirbright (iii) ATR Bassingbourn (iv) ITC Catterick in each of the last three full years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: The number of recruits who enlisted, and completed Basic training at the following sites: Army Foundation College (AFC) Harrogate; Army Training Centre (ATC) Pirbright and the Army Training Regiment (ATR) Winchester; and the number of recruits who enlisted Basic training and completed Initial Trade training at Infantry Training Centre (ITC) Catterick are shown below.Financial Year2014-152015-162016-17AFC HarrogateEnlisted Basic Training1,3291,3771,415Completed Basic Training1,0061,0361,096ATC PirbrightEnlisted Basic Training2,7162,7982,763Completed Basic Training1,9112,3142,330ATR WinchesterEnlisted Basic Training 1,0631,1851,010Completed Basic Training884947868ITC CatterickEnlisted Basic Training 2,1782,1411,741Completed Basic and Initial Trade Training1,4951,7501,637These figures are single service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. Army Training Regiment (ATR) Bassingbourn was closed in August 2012. The above information does not represent cohorts, for example recruits will often complete training the following financial year.

Land Mines

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of live land mines laid by the British Army that are present in former war zones.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence does not hold this information.The UK was a founding signatory of the Ottawa Convention banning land mines and a number of UK organisations such as Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the Halo Trust are at the forefront of global efforts to make the world mine-free.

Yemen: Land Mines

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to train the security forces of the Yemini Government in landmine disarmament.

Mark Lancaster: The UK is not providing training of any kind to the security forces of the Government of Yemen.

Yemen: Land Mines

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of landmines in Yemen.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence does not undertake its own estimates of the number of landmines in Yemen.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of recruits under 18 years of age attended the Army Foundation College in Harrogate in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: The proportion of under 18 recruits that attended Army Foundation College (Harrogate) in each of the last three financial years is shown below. 2014-152015-162016-1775%78%79% These figures are single service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

Metals: Theft

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to deter metal scavenging from shipwrecks and war graves.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reports he has received on the status of Royal Navy war graves on the shipwrecks of HMS Electra, HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter near Indonesia and Malaysia and on similar wrecks in other areas of the world at risk from metal scavengers.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with the Foreign Secretary on reburying the remains of Royal Navy sailors from HMS Exeter.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are aware that the Java Sea wrecks HMS EXETER and HMS ENCOUNTER have been almost completely salvaged, while HMS ELECTRA has been partially salvaged. We are working with the Indonesian government to agree protected status for British World War II (WWII) wrecks in Indonesian waters. We are also aware that the wrecks HMS REPULSE and HMS PRINCE OF WALES near the coast of Malaysia have been partially salvaged. They are designated as 'Protected Places' under the United Kingdom's Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.In response to media reports that human remains, which may include British sailors and soldiers, have been removed from WWII wreck sites in the Java Sea, the British Ambassador to Indonesia has written to the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs raising these concerns and asking the Indonesian authorities to investigate.If further evidence confirms that military remains have been removed and placed in a mass grave, we will consider the options to ensure that our Servicemen are appropriately commemorated. In the event that the remains prove to be conclusively those of British Service personnel, the Ministry of Defence, with support from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, would arrange for a dignified funeral and the marking of their final resting place.Where we have evidence of desecration of the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, we will take appropriate action, including working with regional Governments and partners to prevent inappropriate activity at such sites. It should be appreciated however that, given the vast locations of Royal Navy wrecks around the world, that there are limitations on what protection we can provide.

HMS Ocean

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the net change in levels of employment in (a) Royal Navy personnel and (b) civilian staff supporting such personnel at Devonport resulting from the sale of HMS Ocean to Brazil.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the crew of HMS Ocean will (a) remain in Devonport, (b) transfer to Portsmouth, (c) transfer to other Royal Navy bases and (d) leave the Royal Navy after the ship is decommissioned.

Guto Bebb: There will be no change in the level of Ministry of Defence civilian staff at Devonport as a result of the sale of HMS OCEAN.The number of Royal Navy (RN) personnel in Devonport changes on a daily basis. As part of normal career management of RN personnel, those serving in HMS OCEAN will be individually re-assigned. These assignments will be determined by the skills required to deliver RN tasking, while taking into account individual preferences.A breakdown of these assignments by location could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Training

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time taken is between the start of phase one training and deployable capability for an infantry soldier aged (a) 18 or over and (b) 16; and what the average (i) training, (ii) salary and (iii) other costs are for that training.

Mark Lancaster: The average length of time taken between the start of Basic Training, and completion of Initial Trade Training for a Regular Army Infantry Over 18 Standard Entrant is 277 days. For the Regular Army Infantry Under 18 Junior Entrant it is 489 days.The single Service estimated average costs, for a Regular Army Infantry Over 18 Standard Entrant is as follows:Direct Training - £6,000Salary - £40,600 (this includes trainer and trainee salary costs)Other costs - £6,400The single Service estimated average costs, for a Regular Army Infantry Under 18 Junior Entrant is as follows:Direct Training - £33,700Salary - £62,300 (this includes trainer and trainee salary costs)Other costs - £7,500

Armed Forces: Officers

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the latest (a) Army Command Review, (b) Royal Navy Command Review and (c) RAF Command Review.

Mark Lancaster: It will take time to review the information required to see what can be released. I will write to the hon. Member when this has been completed.

Egypt: Islamic State

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance the Government is providing to the Egyptian military to fight ISIS on the Sinai Peninsula.

Mark Lancaster: To assist the Egyptian military in its fight against Daesh Sinai, the UK has delivered training packages focused on Countering Improvised Explosive Devices and Close Protection. The UK also puts Egyptian officers through UK initial officer training as well as courses focused on command and strategy, pitched at a more senior military level.

Ministry of Defence: Labour Turnover

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, How many full time personnel have (a) retired or left and (b) joined the Army in each of the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: The number of Army personnel who have left the Service or joined are published in the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics. Tables 5a and 5c in the following link provide the inflow and outflow by each Service:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2018These figures do not include Full Time Reserve Service and Gurkha personnel.

Ministry of Defence: Labour Turnover

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full time personnel have (a) retired or left and (b) joined the Navy in each of the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: The figures are available from the UK Armed Forces Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2018

Kuwait: Armed Forces

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government plans to send troops to Kuwait; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The UK has a Defence Section in the Embassy in Kuwait and has, for many years, advised and developed Kuwait's Armed Forces through a British Military Mission permanently based in Kuwait. In addition, we have been supporting the counter-Daesh coalition with troops based in Kuwait. The partnership with Kuwait also includes joint exercising with Kuwait's military institutions and Armed Forces. There are on going discussions between the UK and Kuwaiti governments, without commitment, to consider options for future deployments.

Royal Regiment of Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many new recruits joined the Regiment of Scotland during 2016-17.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many new recruits have joined the Regiment of Scotland in 2018 to date.

Mark Lancaster: The table below shows the number of Untrained Regular and Future Reserves 2020 soldier intake for the Royal Regiment of Scotland during 2016/2017 and for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2017 (the latest figures available). Financial Year2016-171 April – 31 December 2017Regular Army Inflow170130Future Reserves 20 Inflow8040  Notes/Caveats: Regular Inflow figures show untrained soldier intake from civil life. Individuals may transfer to another regiment before finishing their training or may leave the Army before completing training. Officer Cadets are not allocated a Regiment on inflow to Sandhurst, and therefore have been excluded from the data tables. Figures have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

RAF Saxa Vord

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timescale is for investment in Saxe Vord in Shetland; and when that Remote Radar Head facility will be fully operational.

Guto Bebb: Work on the Remote Radar Head at the Saxa Vord site began in mid-2017 and reached Initial Operational Capability at the end of January 2018. It is expected to reach Full Operational Capability by the end of 2018.

RAF Northolt

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department is for deportation flights from RAF Northolt for failed asylum seekers in each month in 2017.

Guto Bebb: There were no deportation flights from RAF Northolt in 2017 for failed asylum seekers.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment: Eligibility

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis was for the decision to move personal independent payment mobility criteria from 50 metres to 20 metres.

Sarah Newton: There has been no move from 50 metres to 20 metres. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) does not have and has never had a 50 metre measure for mobilising for the purpose of assessing whether someone is unable or virtually unable to walk. The 20 metre distance was introduced in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to distinguish those whose mobility is significantly more limited than others and who face even greater barriers on a day to day basis – those who have the highest need.

Children: Maintenance

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money non-resident parents owed resident parents in child maintenance arrears in each Scottish local authority area in the last period for which figures are available.

Kit Malthouse: As at December 2017 the total amount of Child Support Agency Arrears owed to parents with care for each Local Authority in Scotland was:Local Authority Child Support Agency Arrears Owed (£ million)Aberdeen5.2Aberdeenshire7.4Angus3.8Argyll & Bute2.7Clackmannanshire1.8Dumfries & Galloway4.2Dundee5.0East Ayrshire4.2East Dunbartonshire1.9East Lothian2.7East Renfrewshire1.5Edinburgh7.8Falkirk5.0Fife12.0Glasgow14.3Highland6.8Inverclyde2.5Midlothian2.6Moray2.9North Ayrshire4.8North Lanarkshire10.8Orkney Islands0.6Perth & Kinross4.3Renfrewshire5.0Scottish Borders3.2Shetland0.9South Ayrshire3.3South Lanarkshire9.3Stirling2.0West Dunbartonshire2.8West Lothian5.4Western Isles0.6  As at September 2017 the total amount of Child Maintenance Service Unpaid Maintenance owed to receiving parents for each Local Authority in Scotland was: Local Authority Child Maintenance Service Unpaid Maintenance (£ million)Aberdeen0.6Aberdeenshire0.6Angus0.3Argyll & Bute0.1Clackmannanshire0.1Dumfries & Galloway0.3Dundee0.4East Ayrshire0.2East Dunbartonshire0.1East Lothian0.2East Renfrewshire0.1Edinburgh0.9Falkirk0.4Fife0.9Glasgow1.2Highland0.6Inverclyde0.2Midlothian0.2Moray0.3North Ayrshire0.3North Lanarkshire0.8Orkney Islands0.0Perth & Kinross0.2Renfrewshire0.4Scottish Borders0.1Shetland0.1South Ayrshire0.2South Lanarkshire0.6Stirling0.1West Dunbartonshire0.2West Lothian0.4Western Isles0.0  Notes: 1) Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million. 2) For the Child Support Agency, cases have been allocated to a local authority in Scotland by matching the residential postcode of the parent with care for all cases administered on the CS2 and CSCS computer systems, as well as cases managed off system, to the Office for National Statistics Postcode Directory. 3) The figures exclude any arrears from the CSA schemes owed to the Secretary of State 4) Figures on the total Unpaid Maintenance in the Child Maintenance Service to December 2017 are due to be published in the Child Maintenance Service statistics: Aug 2013 to Dec 2017 on 28th February 2018.

Universal Credit

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including a replacement for the Reduced Earnings Allowance benefit within universal credit; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit already provides support for people with disabilities, both in and out of work. Specific help for injuries caused at work is still available to claimants outside of Universal Credit through the Industrial Injuries Scheme, which can include Reduced Earnings Allowance, providing eligibility conditions are met.

Universal Credit: Internet

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the oral answer of the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West on 7 February 2018, Official Report, column 1489, what progress she has made on the establishment of an online password reset function for universal credit claimants.

Alok Sharma: Establishing an online password reset function for claimants who lose their issued credentials is in the scope for development. But as a workable system is in place (i.e. appointments in Jobcentres) for those who have misplaced their credentials, it is not a priority for early development and deployment. The relative priority of other features which enable claims to be paid more quickly, appointments to be made on line, further enhancements to the security of the system and features to improve the experience of people with specific needs are ahead of this particular feature in our plans.

Universal Credit: EEA Nationals

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a reduced fee for identification cards for EEA nationals in cases where a benefit claimant needs ID to apply for Universal credit but has no passport or driving license.

Alok Sharma: No such assessment is necessary. With the exception of people from the Common Travel Area, an EEA national would have a passport in order to gain entry to the United Kingdom.

Department for Work and Pensions: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what translation arrangements her Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Kit Malthouse: DWP has a dedicated Welsh Language Unit which supports the translation of all correspondence, products and services for the Department. Requests for translation from Welsh into English and from English into Welsh will be dealt with and undertaken by the team.

Universal Credit: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to enable local authorities to establish alternative payment arrangements for private rental sector cases as part of their homelessness prevention duties.

Kit Malthouse: The Government believes that direct payment of Housing Benefit to claimants is an important consideration in encouraging people to manage their own budget in the same way as other households, particularly where it may help claimants as they move into work. Direct payment of Housing Benefit to private sector tenants was introduced nationally from 2008 as part of the Local Housing Allowance scheme. We do however recognise that in a small minority of cases some claimants may not utilise their Housing Benefit for the purposes of paying their rent. There are safeguards to minimise the risks for landlords which enable local authorities to pay Housing Benefit directly to them, if their tenants have difficulty in managing their rent payments, are unlikely to pay their rent or they are eight weeks in arrears.

Social Security Benefits: Cryptocurrencies

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of using blockchain for the the welfare and benefits system; and if she will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: We are committed to harnessing the potential of new technologies in making a positive difference to our customers’ lives. In 2016, we ran a pilot to explore whether a product by GovCoin (now DISC) could help some Universal Credit customers budget. The product utilised blockchain technology. The pilot that ended in early 2017, provided valuable insight into customer needs, and this was used to inform the decision to develop a future method of payment strategy that outlines DWP’s commitment to improving the methods available to make payments to customers. We continue to explore payment innovations, including distributed ledger and blockchain technologies and their potential to securely deliver services that our customers rely on.

Bereavement Support Payment: Parents

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend the period of bereavement support payments beyond 18 months for bereaved spouses with young children.

Kit Malthouse: Bereavement Support Payment is intended to help people with the additional costs in the acute period immediately following a bereavement, rather than providing an income replacement. Income-related benefits are more suited for longer-term assistance with everyday living expenses. Unlike the suite of bereavement benefits it replaced, Bereavement Support Payment is paid in addition to any other benefits the recipient is entitled to, thus helping those on the lowest incomes the most.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Serco has a role in the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations 2017.

Kit Malthouse: Serco is an independent service provider contracted by the Department to provide information to claimants in the form of letters, leaflets and telephone calls. Serco are employed solely to provide information to Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) claimants. The Department for Work and Pensions will issue and manage SMI loans.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Mining

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the Industry Injury Advice Council's guidance that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease can only be diagnosed for miners who have worked for more than 20 years in an underground environment.

Sarah Newton: The Secretary of State is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) which is a non-departmental public body made up of independent experts, representatives of employers and employees on matters relating to the Industrial Injuries Scheme. The Council’s primary role is to make recommendations about which diseases should be included in the list of diseases covered by the Industrial Injuries Scheme and the prescription criteria for those diseases. The legal framework underpinning the Industrial Injuries Scheme makes it clear that compensation should not be paid for a disease unless a link between a particular occupation and the disease can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty. A link is presumed where there is evidence that, on the balance of probabilities, work in the prescribed job or occupational exposure doubles the risk of developing the disease. The Council’s recommendations around Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are that to establish a presumed link between occupation and disease, a miner would have to work for a minimum of 20 years underground to have sufficient exposure to coal dust. This recommendation was accepted when the disease was added to the scheme and was reflected in the prescription criteria.

Recruitment: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers are offering guaranteed interviews through the disability confident scheme.

Sarah Newton: There are currently over 5,550 businesses signed up to the Disability Confident scheme and the numbers are growing each week. In signing up to the scheme they have agreed to a number of commitments, including a commitment that they will encourage applications from disabled people by offering an interview to disabled people who declare they have a disability and meet the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. The aim of this commitment is to encourage positive action, encouraging disabled people to apply for jobs and provide an opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances the employer, could select the candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than all of those that meet the minimum criteria, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.

Department for Work and Pensions: Email

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department does not have an automated system for the acknowledgement of receipt of e-mails.

Kit Malthouse: Email is not recognised as a secure communication channel and the Department does not currently ask people to send personal details by email. As email is not an official communication channel, the Department does not acknowledge the receipt of contact through this medium. The Department is committed to improving our communication with customers, whilst ensuring customer’s data is protected and is actively investigating how digital channels, including email, could be safely used for two-way communication with customers.

Social Security Benefits: Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people in receipt (a) job seeker's allowance, (b) tax credits, (c) child benefit, (d) disability living allowance or PIP and (e) housing benefit were living in relative poverty in each of the last 10 years.

Kit Malthouse: National statistics on the proportion of working age adults in relative low income, by state support received by their family, are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication. These estimates (for a, b, d, and e) are publicly available in the links provided for the last 10 years: 2006/07: (see table 5.9db, page 113)http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130404002205/http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2007/pdf_files/full_hbai08.pdf 2007/08: (see table 5.9db, page 113)http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130404002441/http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2008/pdf_files/full_hbai09.pdf 2008/09: (see table 5.9db, page 125)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211979/full_hbai10.pdf 2009/10: (see table 5.9db, page 145)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211950/full_hbai11.pdf 2010/11: (see file “chapter_5_risk_hbai12.xls”, tab 5.9db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200756/chapter_5_risk_hbai12.xls 2011/12: (see file “chapter_5_risk_hbai13.xls”, tab 5.9db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206818/chapter_5_risk_hbai13.xls 2012/13: (see file “chapter_5_risk_hbai14.xls”, tab 5.9db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325422/hbai-2012-2013-supporting-excel-files.zip 2013/14: (see file “5_workingage_risk.xls”, tab 5.9db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437253/hbai-2013-2014-supporting-excel-files.zip 2014/15: (see file “5_workingage_risk.ods”, tab 5.9db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/532118/hbai-2014-2015-supporting-ods-files.zip 2015/16: (see file “5_workingage_risk.ods”, tab 5.9db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599136/hbai-2015-2016-supporting-ods-files.zip For (c), the proportion of working age adults in receipt of child benefit in relative low income have been estimated from the Households Below Average Income dataset for each of the past 10 years. The figures are shown in the below table:  The proportion of working age adults in receipt of child benefit in relative low income, before housing costs2006/0718%2007/0818%2008/0918%2009/1017%2010/1116%2011/1215%2012/1315%2013/1416%2014/1518%2015/1618%

Vacancies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the ratio of registered job seekers per job vacancy in (a) Vale of Clwyd, (b) Wales, and (c) the UK excluding Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Alok Sharma: The latest official data available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that there are currently 823,000 vacancies in the UK, a record number. However, the ONS does not publish vacancies data at a regional or sub-regional level. This means it is not possible to calculate the ratio of registered job seekers per vacancy in the geographic areas requested.

Work and Health Programme: Disclosure of Information

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to first publish data on Work and Health Programme outcomes; and how often her Department plans to do so subsequently.

Sarah Newton: The publication of Work and Heath Programme data is still at the planning stage and current plans are for official statistics to be produced in the autumn of 2018. The frequency of the statistics will be established as part of the planning process.Significant progress has been made in the delivery of the Work and Health Programme which will be fully available across England and Wales by March 2018. The Programme will provide support for around 245,000 disabled people, priority groups and the long term unemployed, with the objective to support individuals within these groups to find sustained employment.This is a significant step to help thousands of disabled people across England and Wales get the support they need to move away from benefits and find lasting work and underlines the Government commitment to improving employment outcomes for disabled people. We have committed to a clear and time-bound goal to see 1 million more disabled people into work over the next 10 years with the Work and Health Programme contributing towards this aim.

Universal Credit: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to publish its review of the Youth Obligation.

Alok Sharma: The Youth Obligation was introduced on 26 April 2017 to provide intensive support for 18-21 year olds making a new claim to Universal Credit Full Service. We are rolling out the Youth Obligation in line with the roll-out schedule for Universal Credit Full Service, and as this progresses, we are considering our evaluation strategy.

Universal Credit: Rents

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of universal credit on the number of people in rent arrears in (a) the UK, (b) the North East and (c) North West Durham.

Alok Sharma: We are currently carrying out further analysis of this issue with a number of housing providers, to investigate and understand the true level of rent arrears for their tenants, what is causing them and any impacts Universal Credit may be having. It will be published when completed. We also know that arrears are usually temporary and the majority of claimants do succeed in paying their rent, managing their monthly payments and clearing their arrears over time. In our published research available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481865/universal-credit-extended-gateway-evaluation.pdf, the proportion of Universal Credit claimants who were in arrears at the start of their claim fell by a third after four months. To note, the relevant section is Page 33, Table 3.5. This report is from 2015. Lastly, research carried out by the National Federation of ALMOs shows over three quarters of their tenants come onto Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears. This research can be accessed at http://www.almos.org.uk/include/getDoc.php?did=7944&fid=9326. To note, the relevant section is page 10, section 3.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the level of knowledge of the impact of sight impairment among personal independence payment assessors; and what steps her Department is taking to improve the knowledge of that condition among assessors.

Sarah Newton: The PIP assessment is not a medical assessment requiring the assessor to diagnose a condition and recommend treatment options. The focus is on ensuring that the Health Professionals are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the individual’s daily life. All Health Care Professionals receive training on a wide range of conditions including sight loss and visual impairments. They have access to a range of resources as well as experienced clinicians within their business, to support them in assessing claimants with these conditions.In addition, Assessment Providers engage with medical experts, sight loss charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update their training programmes.

Universal Credit: Children

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons universal credit recipients are required to take physical receipts of childcare to a job centre in order to receive the contribution her Department makes towards childcare costs.

Alok Sharma: Experience from Tax Credits shows there is a need for a higher level of verification of childcare costs. Claimants only have to provide physical receipts at the start of the claim and if they have a change in childcare arrangements, such as a change in childcare provider. Claimants can choose to either post in their receipts, or can make an appointment to see their Work Coach, whichever is most convenient for the claimant. We are currently developing a new functionality for Universal Credit online accounts, which will allow claimants to upload evidence of their childcare costs via their online Universal Credit account. This new function should be available to use in Spring 2018, making it even easier for claimants to provide evidence of these costs.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Flood Control: Public Expenditure

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding for flood defences has been allocated to each constituency in England and Wales since 2015.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021, delivering at least 1,500 new flood defence schemes and better protecting 300,000 homes. However, funding for defences is not allocated by constituency and there is no set quota.

Seasonal Workers: Cornwall

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with horticultural and agricultural sector leaders in Cornwall on demand for seasonal workers after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Seasonal workers make an important contribution to our agriculture and horticulture industries. That is why Defra has been working closely with the horticulture and agriculture sector to better understand both their current and longer term labour market requirements. This includes regular meetings with national representative organisations covering agricultural and horticultural businesses across the whole of the UK. I attended the Seasonal Workforce Working Group myself in autumn 2017 where we discussed the latest position on the seasonal agricultural workforce. As the Member of Parliament for Camborne, Redruth & Hayle, I also have regular meetings with my farming constituents. Maintaining access to a sufficient supply of labour as we leave the EU remains a key priority. The Government is carefully considering options for our future immigration policy and keeps its position on seasonal labour under close review.

Microplastics: Marine Environment

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of microplastic fibres on the world's oceans.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: It is clear that microplastics in various forms, including microfibres, are a significant and prevalent source of marine litter around the world. As part of the enhanced chemicals programme the Environment Agency will look more at the contribution of sewage treatment to microplastic. As with many chemicals the most effective solution is to reduce the sources of plastic getting into drainage systems in the first place.

Environmental Protection: Disclosure of Information

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Guidance for business on environmental key performance indicators, published by his Department on 25 July 2012, whether he intends to publish his Department's findings from that consultation.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The guidance “Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting” was published in June 2013 and is available on the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-reporting-guidelines-including-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-guidance.

Fishing Catches

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking ensure that discard free fisheries are achieved under the provisions of (a) the current discard ban and (b) after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The UK continues to participate in the North Sea and North Western Waters regional groups on the phased implementation of the EU Landing Obligation which will be fully implemented from 1 January 2019. After the UK leaves the EU, Defra will continue to work with our industry and others to ensure that we operate a discard policy that reflects our mixed fisheries.

Food: Labelling

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the changes required in (a) domestic standards, (b) international standards and (c) domestic legislation once the UK has left the EU to provide for the mandatory labelling of the (i) origin and (ii) methods of production and processing of imported meat and dairy ingredients in (A) fresh, (B) processed and (C) pre-prepared products sold in the UK.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the changes required in (a) domestic standards, (b) international standards and (c) domestic legislation once the UK has left the EU to provide for the mandatory labelling of the (i) origin and (ii) methods of production and processing of imported meat and dairy ingredients in (A) fresh, (B) processed and (C) pre-prepared products sold in the UK.

George Eustice: The Government is proud of our high standards of food safety and these will not be watered down when we leave the EU. We will keep our existing UK legislation, and the EU Withdrawal Bill will convert EU law into UK law as it applies once we have left the EU. This means that origin labelling for foods will be required where the consumer would be misled if it were not given. In addition, the rules for compulsory origin labelling of beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat and poultry meat, fish and shellfish, honey, olive oil, wine and most fruit and vegetables will be in place. The majority of meat and dairy products sold at retail have transparent origin labelling provided voluntarily for the meat or dairy ingredients, and we continue to support the voluntary principles on country of origin labelling. Method of production labelling is not required for food although some producers provide it on a voluntary basis. If it is provided it must be accurate and must not mislead the consumer: the Government has no plans to change this once we leave the EU. When we leave the EU, there will be an opportunity to review labelling requirements for all foods, to ensure that we maintain the highest standards of quality and transparency for consumers and take the greatest opportunities for marketing our great British food across the world.

Origin Marking: Food

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has discussed food products covered by the (a) protected designation of origin, (b) protected geographical indication and (c) traditional speciality guaranteed schemes with US trade negotiators.

George Eustice: UK spirit, drinks and wines, covered by the Protected Food Name scheme, are included in a number of existing EU-US bilateral agreements. The US-UK Trade and Investment Working Group, established in July 2017, is working to secure continuity in the effect of these agreements on the day we leave the EU.

Hunting

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many reports his Department has received of foxes killed by trail hunts by police force area since 26 December 2017.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We have received no reports of foxes killed by trail hunts by police force area since 26 December 2017.

Factory Farming: Ammonia and Nitrates

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 121641 on Factory Farming: Ammonia and Nitrates, how many farmers (a) received on-farm advice, (b) applied for slurry store cover grants and (c) received such a grant; and what the cost to the public purse was of those grants.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We are taking steps to reduce emissions of ammonia, which can damage the environment and combine with pollution from traffic and industry to create smog in our cities. In 2016, agriculture accounted for around 88% of total UK ammonia emissions. In 2017 we provided practical help for dairy and beef farmers in England through the Farming Ammonia Reduction Grant scheme. 345 farms received one-to-one advice from a farm adviser on ways to reduce ammonia emissions and conserve nitrogen which could increase the efficiency of the farm system. 427 farms applied for grants to fund the installation of slurry store covers and 53 farms received grants. The FARG scheme was funded through the EU Exceptional Adjustment Aid Scheme. The total cost of the scheme was around £3.3 million, of which £185,000 was for the scheme management.

Incinerators: Testing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what procedure is used when waste incinerators are tested for the emission of dioxins and furans.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Emissions of dioxins and furans from waste incinerators are tested according to the method specified in Annex VI of the European Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the technical requirements of the European monitoring standard (BS EN 1948). This involves passing the exhaust gases from the chimney through a filter and some absorbent material for a period of 6-8 hours. The filter and absorbent material are then analysed in a laboratory where the total amount of dioxins and furans on them is measured, and from this the concentration of dioxins and furans in the exhaust gases is calculated. Testing is done in this way on a quarterly basis in the first year of the incinerator’s operation and twice a year thereafter (in line with IED requirements). The monitoring contractors and equipment that they use must be approved or certified under the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme to ensure reliable results.

Home Office

Immigration

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s policy is on refunding people who have overpaid for their application for leave to remain.

Caroline Nokes: Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations state that when a person varies the basis of their application to remain within the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State may refund any fee (or fees) other than the higher (or highest, as the case may be) paid in respect of the applications.  In other circumstances, the fee charged is for the processing and consideration of the application. This fee will be payable once the application form is received by the Home Office or its payment processing agent, regardless of the outcome of the application.

Emergency Services Network: Argyll And Bute

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) number and (b) location of new mobile sites under the Emergency Services Network contract which will be located in Argyll and Bute constituency are; how many sites in that same area have gained planning approval; how many sites in that same area have entered the build phase; how many sites in that same area were live as of 1 January 2018; how many sites in that same area are being built with the capacity for multi-occupancy; and how many sites in that same area have a confirmed second tenant.

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the (a) number and (b) location of mobile sites for the Emergency Services Network contract in Argyll and Bute constituency which are being built using state aid; how many such sites have gained planning approval; how many such sites have entered the build phase; how many such sites were live as of 1 January 2018; how many such sites are being built with the capacity for multi-occupancy; how many such sites have a confirmed second tenant; and how much money from the public purse has been allocated to each such site.

Mr Nick Hurd: I can confirm there will be c.75 new EE sites and 17 Extended Area Service (EAS) sites located in the constituency of Argyll and Bute. All new EE sites are being built and delivered to agreed Home Office timeframes and where possible will go live earlier to support commercial coverage. Of the 75 sites, 59 have planning permission. 7 of the new sites are commercially available. In respect of EAS sites I can confirm that there are currently 17 sites proposed in Islay, Jura, Mull and the Kintyre Peninsula and 3 have planning permission approved (or 3 HoTs signed – as none have yet entered the build phase). Of the c.500 new sites EE is building, 291 will transfer over to the Home Office at the end of the contract term. EE is making available details of all shareable new sites to other mobile network operators proactively both directly and through an existing website used by the industry to arrange site sharing. EE has made available the details of 350 sites. EE is confident that the 291 sites will transfer to the Home Office will be selected from this portfolio, and the Home Office and EE have now agreed 104 of these sites (and are working on confirming on which of the remainder will make up the rest of the 291). These will be shareable in accordance with the terms of the EC Decision in relation to State aid for this Programme. Separately the Home Office, through the EAS project are delivering circa 292 individual sites. I would also like to reassure you that the Home Office has been proactive in seeking to build masts that support multi-operator use where practicable. Finally I thought it helpful to remind you that the Emergency Services Network is designed to, first and foremost, deliver a ‘blue-light’ communications service.

Junior Doctors: Migrant Workers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that overseas junior doctors are able to have access to tier 2 visas.

Caroline Nokes: We welcome the contribution made by overseas doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to the NHS and to this country. According to data from NHS Digital, the number of non-UK doctors has increased by 1,700 from June 2016 to September 2017. They now make up almost 25% of all doctors in the NHS. (Source: https://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30165).We will continue to monitor the operation of the Tier 2 visa route to ensure it attracts the best and brightest migrants.

Bank Services: Fraud

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle telephone banking fraud.

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support collaboration between banks and police banking fraud teams on tracing funds obtained through telephone banking fraud.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce in 2016 to bring together banks, law enforcement and Government to develop a collective response to fraud against individuals and banks. The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign was developed jointly by the banking industry, Government experts and the Joint Fraud Taskforce. The campaign is designed to help encourage the public to protect themselves from fraud and scams, providing advice on how to avoid falling victim to fraud, including around telephone banking scams. The current campaign, “My money, my info, I don’t think so” provides advice to help the public develop resilience to requests from fraudsters relating to financial and personal information. This Government is also committed to stopping stolen funds from getting into the hands of criminals, and where possible, enabling stolen money to be returned back to the victims of fraud. A priority area for the Taskforce is to establish a technical solution and regulatory framework that will ensure that more fraud losses can be returned to victims.

Emergency Services Network: North Ayrshire and Arran

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the (a) number and (b) location of mobile sites EE will build using state aid under the Emergency Services Network contract in North Ayrshire and Arran constituency; how many such sites have received planning approval; how many such sites have entered the build phase; how many such sites were live as of 1 February 2018; how many such sites are being built with the capacity for multi-occupancy; how many such sites have a confirmed second tenant; and how much money from the public purse has been allocated for each such site.

Mr Nick Hurd: I can confirm there will be 3 new EE sites and 5 Extended Area Service (EAS) sites located in the constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran. All new EE sites are being built and delivered to agreed Home Office timeframes and where possible will go live earlier to support commercial coverage. All 3 new sites in North Ayrshire and Arran have planning permission. None of the three new sites are commercially available at present. In respect of EAS sites I can confirm that there are currently 5 sites proposed on Arran and 1 has planning permission approved (or 1 HoTs signed – as none have yet entered the build phase). Of the c.500 new sites EE is building, 291 will transfer over to the Home Office at the end of the contract term. EE is making available details of all shareable new sites to other mobile network operators proactively both directly and through an existing website used by the industry to arrange site sharing. EE has made available the details of 350 sites. EE is confident that the 291 sites which will transfer to the Home Office will be selected from this portfolio, and the Home Office and EE have now agreed 104 of these sites (and are working on confirming on which of the remainder will make up the rest of the 291). These will be shareable in accordance with the terms of the EC Decision in relation to State aid for this Programme. Separately the Home Office, through the EAS project, are delivering circa 292 individual sites. I would also like to reassure you that the Home Office has been proactive in seeking to build masts that support multi-operator use where practicable. Finally I thought it helpful to remind you that the Emergency Services Network is designed to, first and foremost, deliver a ‘blue-light’ communications service.

Companies: Guernsey

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, whether Guernsey has introduced a private register of beneficial ownership.

Mr Ben Wallace: Guernsey have a central register of company beneficial ownership information.

Migrant Workers: Fees and Charges

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department has received from funds raised by the immigration skills charge; and what plans his Department has for the allocation of future funds raised by the immigration skills charge.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how funds raised from the immigration skills charge have been reinvested in training for the health and social care workforce.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office collect the Immigration Skills Charge as part of the visa sponsorship process and transfer it to the Exchequer, less an amount to cover the costs of collecting it. The population percentages underlying the Barnett formula are used by HM Treasury to determine the split of funding raised by the Immigration Skills Charge between the Department for Education and each of the devolved Administrations. The Department for Education receive their funding from HMT some of which contributes to the Department for Education’s skills budget in England. This budget is used to address skills gaps in the resident workforce by developing the skills of individuals required by employers. (a contribution to this response has been provided by The Department for Education England who are unable to comment on behalf of the Devolved Administrations)

Health Professions: Migrant Workers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money has been raised for the public purse from the immigration skills charge under Tier 2 visas issued to (a) doctors and (b) nurses since its introduction.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much revenue the immigration skills charge has raised since its introduction; and if she will publish a list of projects that have received funding as a result of the that charge.

Caroline Nokes: An assessment of the income generated by the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) after the first year of collecting the charge will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses. Figures for 2017/18 will be available once the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts are audited by the National Audit Office, and laid before Parliament. The Department for Education’s 2017/18 end year accounts will provide information on ISC income and expenditure.

Drugs: Smuggling

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the (a) volume and (b) proportion of illegal drugs that are seized before they reach consumers.

Caroline Nokes: A total volume seized across all drugs is not available as they are measured in different units, such as kilograms, doses and plants. However data relating to seizures of cocaine, heroin and ecstasy for 2016/17 can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2017Data is not collected on the proportion of drugs that are seized.

UK Border Force

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2018 to Question 123657, when she plans to make a decision on whether to establish a special volunteer force to support Border Force; and what plans she has to consult further on that proposal.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office is continuing the process of taking advice on a range of options from other law enforcement bodies such as police forces, to determine whether a Special Volunteer force within Border Force would provide benefits and bolster existing activity. Until this is concluded no decision will be made on whether BF specials should proceed to a pilot.

Crime: Victims

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in supporting victims of crime to recover their stolen goods.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Proceeds of Crime Act provides the statutory scheme for the recovery of criminal proceeds; its purpose is not to recover stolen goods for victims. There are other legislative powers to support victims to recover stolen goods or receive compensation, including the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. However, assets recovered using Proceeds of Crime Act powers can be used to compensate victims when a compensation order has been made by the court following a conviction. The annual Asset Recovery Statistical Bulletin records the amount of the proceeds of crime paid in compensation to victims: £36 million in 2016/17.

Members: Correspondence

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed of responses to inquiries by hon. Members on applications for leave to remain.

Caroline Nokes: UKVI has seen unprecedented levels of intake in MP written correspondence since the beginning of July 2017 and MP offices are reporting that high volumes of constituency issues being raised has continued. This has had an impact on the MPAM team’s ability to respond to all written correspondence within the service standard of 20 working days from receipt. We have been and are deploying further resource to meet demands and continue to strive to meet our service standard for the majority of correspondence received.

Visas

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of availability of Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Visas.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) extent of and (b) reasons for the rise in the refusal rate for Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Visa applications.

Caroline Nokes: The Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route demonstrates our commitment to continuing to attract top international talent in the digital technology, science and arts sectors. On 11 January, we doubled the number of places available to applicants from 1000, to 2000, and are confident that this is sufficient to meet demand at this time. We will continue to monitor take up of the route.All visa applications are subject to appropriate checks by the Home Office and we reserve the right to refuse applications where they fall for refusal under our general grounds for refusal. This includes where we believe applicants are attempting to abuse the immigration system or where an applicant’s previous character and conduct is not conducive to the public good.

Migrant Workers: USA

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many US citizens have been denied the right to work in the UK (a) during and (b) after an unsuccessful application for (i) EEA(FM) and (i) EEA(EFM) residence cards who successfully appealed in the (A) first tier tribunal and (B) the upper tribunal by gender in each of the last five years.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last updated the guidance for new residency applications.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the number of citizens of the United States of America who have been informed that they do not have the right to work as a result of a Home Office decision on an application for EEA documentation and who have successfully appealed for the last five years is not centrally held and can only be provided at disproportionate cost through the examination of individual case records.Home Office guidance on the free movement rights of direct family members of European Economic Areas and Swiss nationals was last updated on 21 April 2017. Guidance on applications for documentation from extended family members was updated on 7 August 2017.

Pets: Theft

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance and training her Department provides to police forces on recording and investigating cases of pet theft.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government understands the distress that can be caused by the theft of a pet. We expect the police to record these crimes when they are reported to them so that they can determine how best to investigate. The National Crime Recording Standard and Home Office Counting Rules set out guidance that forces should adhere to when recording crimes. Each force has a crime registrar to oversee their crime recording. Registrars are trained and accredited for this role by the College of Policing. It must, however, be for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to deploy resources to manage and respond to individual crimes and local crime priorities.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the Cornish agricultural sector's demand for seasonal workers from the EEA after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, including for our world-leading food and farming industry. We have asked the Migration Advisory Committee for advice on the UK’s reliance on EU labour and they will help us shape immigration policy going forward.

Firearms: Licensing

Victoria Prentis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a review of firearms licensing medical procedures is being undertaken as part of her Department's work to introduce statutory guidance under section 55A of the Firearms Act 1968.

Mr Nick Hurd: We have been in discussions with the police, medical representatives and shooting organisations about the medical arrangements for firearms licensing and how to achieve greater consistency across England and Wales. The process, which was introduced in 2016, is voluntary and we know that there is currently variation in how GPs respond to the police request for information. The statutory guidance to the police will apply to firearms licensing functions, including medical arrangements, and the police will be required to have regard to this guidance. We intend to consult on the statutory guidance before it is finalised.

Fire and Rescue Services: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vacancies there are for on-call firefighters in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not collect the information requested centrally.

Immigration

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the third report of the Home Affairs committee, Home Office delivery of Brexit: immigration, published on 14 February 2018, HC 421, when her Department plans to publish final guidance on the Government’s immigration plan after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is considering a range of options for the future immigration system and will set out initial plans in due course. In December, we reached a deal with the EU on citizens’ rights - and our priority now must be to agree the detail of the Implementation Period.We will make decisions on the future immigration system based on evidence and engagement.That is why we have asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on the economic and social impacts of the UK’s exit from the EU and also on how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy.The Government will have plenty of time to take account of the MAC’s advice when making any final decisions about our future immigration system, which would not be implemented until after the Implementation Period in 2021.

Forensic Science

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether all providers of digital forensics to the police are accredited to the Forensic Services Regulator's codes of practice and conducts.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether all police laboratories providing digital forensics services are accredited to (a) ISO 17025 and (b) Forensic Services Regulator codes of practice and conduct.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not collect this information.In her latest annual report, published on 19 January 2018, the Forensic Science Regulator set out her view of the national picture for accreditation in digital forensics. The report can be accessed through the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/674761/FSRAnnual_Report_2017_v1_01.pdf

Wildlife: Crime

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127241, what information her Department holds on the number of fully trained wildlife crime officers in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold centrally any information on the number of trained wildlife crime officers.It is for elected Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to decide how their force’s resources are deployed.

Police: Sick Leave

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers are on on sick leave due to mental health problems.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of police officers on certified long-term sick absence as at 31st March each year. Long-term absence due to sickness includes officers on leave for 28 days or more.These data are published in the annual ‘Police workforce’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesHowever, these data do not include the reason for the sick absence.The Home Office also collects information on the number of police officers on short/medium term sick absence as at 31st March each year. Short/medium term absence due to sickness includes officers on leave for 28 days or less. Again, these data do not include the reason for the sick absence.This information is published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) in their Value for Money profiles, available here: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/our-work/value-for-money-inspections/value-for-money-profiles

Police: Firearms

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127226 on Police: Firearms, what assessment she has made of the effect of differences in the length of firearms training received by Authorised Firearms Officers on deployment decisions in respect of Operation Temperer.

Mr Nick Hurd: All Authorised Firearms Officers must undertake the National Police Firearms Training Curriculum – a programme of nationally accredited training for armed officers.The length of courses varies according to the duties likely to be undertaken. Including in respect to Operation Temperer, deployment decisions and the length of associated armed officer training are operational matters for the police.

Visas: Overseas Students

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant the the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121748, what criteria her Department uses for setting overseas student fees if visa income is not differentiated between the various categories in which they are received.

Caroline Nokes: The Immigration Act 2014 is the primary legislation which gives the Home Office statutory powers to set fees for all immigration and nationality applications. The relevant sections of the Act relating to fees are 68 to 70 which can be found on pages 58 to 61 of the following link. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/pdfs/ukpga_20140022_en.pdf

Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127772, whether her Department was aware of concerns about detainee welfare at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre before the BBC alerted it to the specific issues raised on Panorama on 24 August 2017.

Caroline Nokes: As my earlier answer of 20 February 2018 to the honourable member stated, detainee welfare concerns in Immigration Removal Centres can be raised at any point, to the Home Office, NHS (England) or the custodial supplier as appropriate. The BBC first made the Home Office aware of the specific issues later aired by Panorama on 24 August 2017. The Government takes the health and welfare of immigration detainees very seriously and expects the highest standards from those who manage the detention estate on its behalf.

Asylum

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 125290, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merit of recording the country of origin of illegally trafficked people who have been granted asylum.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office records and publishes data, broken down by nationality, of all those who make an asylum claim or are referred to the National Referral mechanism (NRM) as a potential victim of trafficking or modern slavery. Information concerning a claimants route of travel to the United Kingdom is not recorded centrally in a readily accessible format, and could only be provided at disproportionate costs by examination of individual interview transcripts and case files.

Refugees

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees have been resettled under the Gateway Protection Programme.

Caroline Nokes: The Gateway Protection Programme demonstrates the UK’s proud tradition of providing protection to refugees. Details on the number of refugees resettled under this scheme are published as part of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

John Worboys

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the judgment of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Appellant) v DSD and another (Respondents) [2018] UKSC 11, whether she plans to conduct a resource impact assessment into the capacity of the police service as a result of that decision.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the judgment of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Appellant) v DSD and another (Respondents) [2018] UKSC 11, whether her Department has any contingency arrangements in place to support the police with the policing implications of that judgement; and what discussions her Department is holding on those implications.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Supreme Court judgment upholds the Court of Appeal judgment and the 2014 High Court judgment and means that claims against the police for serious failures in investigations can continue to be made.The Government welcomes the clarity provided by the Supreme Court judgment in emphasising the high threshold for such claims i.e. where there are serious failures or shortcomings in investigations engaging Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This provides the police with greater clarity as to when claims can be made.We will continue to work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to monitor current claims and assess any impacts as a result of future action taken against forces on the basis of this ruling.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve the transparency of Official Development Assistance that is spent by other Government Departments.

Alistair Burt: DFID is in regular discussion with other UK Government Departments about transparency and is supporting them to improve the Official Development Assistance (ODA) data they currently publish, through the provision of guidance, tailored training events and advice on technical issues.

USA: UNRWA

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to increase its contribution to UNWRA funding as a result of the decision by the US Administration to reduce its contribution to that body; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: UK officials are working closely with the UN Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), the United States and other donors on how best to ensure continuity of essential services to Palestinian refugees at this time, in line with humanitarian principles. The UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA, and has so far provided around £50 million in 2017/18 based on the Agency meeting rigorous performance indicators. The UK is closely monitoring UNRWA’s ability to deliver services in all fields of operation and is supporting UNRWA’s fundraising efforts. I recently met with the Commissioner General of UNRWA to understand how donors can help. I discussed the importance of UNRWA’s services to the region with a senior US official last week.

HM Treasury

Ordnance Survey: Databases

Andrew Lewer: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to re-examine the Geospatial Commission proposal of November 2017 on free access to Ordnance Survey data.

Elizabeth Truss: At Autumn Budget 2017, the government committed to work with Ordnance Survey (OS) and the new Geospatial Commission to establish by May 2018 how to open up freely OS’s MasterMap data to UK-based small businesses in particular. This work is underway and we will provide further updates in due course.

Employee Ownership and Save As You Earn: Costs

Dr David Drew: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of the operation of the (a) Share Incentive Plan and (b) Save As You Earn all -employee share schemes in each of the last five years.

Mel Stride: The estimated cost to the Exchequer of both the Share Incentive Plan and Save As You Earn employee share schemes is published in “Table 6.1: The Estimated Costs of Tax Relief”: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/table-61-estimated-costs-of-income-tax-and-nics-relief Data for the tax year 2016-17 is due to be published in June 2018.

Save As You Earn

Dr David Drew: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of postponing the implementation of the Save As You Earn contributions holiday change scheduled to begin on 6 April 2018 to allow a longer preparatory period for the share plan industry to undertake IT and software changes and testing; and if he will make a statement.

Dr David Drew: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether proposals to increase the contributions holiday for Save As You Earn schemes from six to 12 months will apply to all employees who miss their payment contributions.

Dr David Drew: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he has had with representatives of the UK's share plan industry to discuss the proposed increase in the contributions holiday for Save As You Earn schemes from six to 12 months.

Mel Stride: The government announced at Autumn Budget that it would extend the Save As You Earn (SAYE) contributions holiday from 6 to 12 months for those on maternity and parental leave from 6 April 2018. After receiving representations from the share plan industry, the government is delaying the implementation of this change until 1 September 2018 to allow for software changes and testing. The government will from the same date extend the SAYE contributions holiday to 12 months for all SAYE plans. This change will extend the benefit to all SAYE participants.

Minimum Wage: Arrears

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release of 7 February 2018 on the Government recovering £11 million in minimum wage arrears for 98,000 workers, how much of that sum was then paid to those workers; and how many of those workers received in full the minimum wage arrears owed to them.

Mel Stride: The government are determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. Where arrears are identified HMRC complete risk-based assurance checks to ensure employers have repaid the arrears owed to workers. If employers do not repay arrears to workers HMRC will pursue civil recovery of arrears through the courts. HMRC is unable to provide information on sums ultimately received by each individual worker as it does not centrally collect and maintain this data. HMRC always takes action to ensure workers receive what they are entitled to.

Revenue and Customs: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 13 July 2017 to Question 4057 on Revenue and Customs: ICT, if he will provide an update on the provision or procurement of replacement services previously provided through the Aspire contract.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) successfully exited the Aspire IT contract on 30 June 2017. HMRC are managing the contracts that we have let and taken on as part of the Aspire exit. Savings remain on target at around £200 million a year by 2020-21, on a like-for-like basis.

Brexit

Eddie Hughes: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of using distributed ledger technology for any new customs system after the UK leaves the EU.

Elizabeth Truss: HMRC are actively considering the use of distributed ledger technologies alongside other technical options for both tax and the Customs and Excise systems. The department is currently running a proof of concept exercise in support of one of their Customs initiatives and will provide further updates as this work progresses.

Bank Services: Older People and Vulnerable Adults

Alex Sobel: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department issues guidance for banks on reviewing accounts of elderly and vulnerable customers to ensure that the financial products they hold are suitable and relevant to their needs.

John Glen: The Treasury does not issue such guidance. The independent financial services regulator - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - requires firms to treat their customers fairly and has broad and robust powers to enforce breaches of its rules. The FCA has carried out a recent series of work on elderly and vulnerable consumers. In September 2017, the FCA published its Ageing Population Occasional Paper, which reviewed the policy implications of an ageing population and the resulting impact on financial services. In October 2017, the FCA also published its ‘Financial Lives Survey’, the first of an annual large scale survey (13,000 interviews) which is designed to add a substantial new source of data to the regulator’s understanding of consumers in the retail financial markets. In addition, in November 2017 the FCA published its ‘Approach to Consumers’ Paper, which details how the FCA measures the effects of its actions on consumers, particularly with respect to access and vulnerability. The Government supports the FCA’s work in this area and will continue to work with it to ensure that all consumers are treated fairly.

Instalment Credit: Regulation

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Financial Conduct Authority's decision on BrightHouse, announced on 24 October 2017, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to (a) further regulate the rent-to-own market and (b) introduce a price cap on rent-to-own goods.

John Glen: The government transferred the regulation of consumer credit, including rent-to-own, to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014. The Government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers, as demonstrated by the FCA announcement in October 2017 that BrightHouse, a rent-to-own firm, would pay over £14.8 million in redress to 249,000 customers in respect of agreements which may not have been affordable, and payments which should have been refunded. The government has also given the FCA the power to cap all forms of credit, and the FCA can do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers.   The government welcomes the ongoing work of the FCA to review the high-cost credit market, including the rent-to-own sector. The FCA aims to consult on proposed remedies in Spring 2018.

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126599, on Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges, if he will make the correspondence between his Department and LINK on proposals to reduce the interchange fee available to those Members who request it.

John Glen: It is not the Department’s policy to make copies of correspondence relevant to ongoing policy formation available to Members.

Money Laundering: Cryptocurrencies

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made in the negotiations on the EU Anti-money Laundering Directive with regard to the regulation of the use of crypto-currencies; and what the timescale is for the conclusion of those negotiations.

John Glen: Provisional political agreement was reached on amendments to the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive in December 2017. They will be published at EU-level in summer of this year with Member States then having 18 months to transpose the amendments after they enter into force at EU-level. These amendments would bring virtual currency exchanges and custodian wallet providers into the scope of obliged entities. Whether we are legally required to transpose the amendments will depend on the negotiated outcome over the terms of the Implementation Period.

*No heading*

Will Quince: What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of changes to stamp duty in helping first-time buyers.

Mel Stride: The stamp duty relief for first-time buyers announced at Autumn Budget 2017 has already helped thousands of people getting on to the property ladder, and is expected to benefit over one million first-time buyers over the next five years. The reform is part of a wider package to improve the housing market and significantly increase the supply of housing in the UK.

Unemployment: Females

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many unemployed women with dependent children there were in England in each of the last 6 months.

Elizabeth Truss: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not regularly publish data on unemployed women with dependent children, but in September 2017 it published the article “Families and the labour market, England: 2017” https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/familiesandthelabourmarketengland2017 This shows that there were 197,000 unemployed women with dependent children in England in April to June 2017 and that the employment rate for these women has increased by 6.3ppts since 2010.

Private Finance Initiative: Taxation

Stella Creasy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has taken legal advice on the principle of a windfall tax on PFI companies.

Mel Stride: The government always considers the compatibility of tax policy measures with different domestic and international legal obligations, as part of an assessment of their merits and feasibility.That is particularly important for tax measures that are targeted at specific industries or narrow groups of companies.There would also be a need to consider the wider challenges with a windfall tax that discriminates against PFI companies.That includes the impact on investor confidence, as well as the obligation that the government or procuring authorities would face to provide compensation where contracts include an anti-discrimination clause.

Child Benefit: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from tax expenditure on child benefit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: This information is not held centrally by HMRC and cannot be provided.

Attendance Allowance: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from tax expenditure on attendance allowance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from tax expenditure on disability living allowance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from tax expenditure on war disablement benefits in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The table below shows estimates for the number of people receiving income tax or National Insurance Contributions relief for each of the requested allowances. The estimates show people that would face a higher tax liability if the individual allowances and/or thresholds were removed, (and includes people who are currently non-taxpayers as their income is covered by these thresholds and/or allowances). Estimates of the number of people who received tax relief (Millions) (1) 2015-162016-172017-18Disability living allowance3.43.43.4Attendance allowance1.51.51.4War disablement benefits0.10.10.1(1) The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand and presented in millions.  Estimates are based on the 2015-16 Family Resource Survey (FRS), projected to 2016-17 and 2017-18 using forecast benefit expenditure and caseload data consistent with the Department of Work and Pension (DWP) Spring Budget 2017 outlook.

Offshore Industry: Corporation Tax

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from corporation tax on offshore (North Sea) CT reduction in Supplementary Charge arising from field and investment allowances in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: Offshore Corporation Tax (including Supplementary Charge) is paid by companies exploring and producing oil and gas from the UK and the UK Continental Shelf. The number of companies that used field and investment allowances to reduce their Supplementary Charge liabilities in 2015-16 was 48. Data to assess the number of companies claiming the relief in 2016-17 and 2017-18 is not yet available.

Child Care Vouchers: Wakefield

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in Wakefield constituency have made use of the childcare vouchers scheme in the 2017-18 financial year.

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families are eligible for tax-free childcare in the Wakefield constituency.

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in Wakefield constituency have been written to in order to inform them that the Childcare Vouchers scheme is closing to new entrants on 5 April 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: Information on the number of parents eligible for Tax-Free Childcare by constituency is not available at the current time. Regarding the number of parents who have used childcare vouchers in the Wakefield constituency, I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 25 January 2017 to the Honourable Member for Hull North (123405). Parents currently receiving vouchers can continue to do so while they work for the same employer and that employer continues to offer them. HM Revenue & Customs have published guidance and written to employers, who operate the schemes, to make sure that they are aware of the changes.

Debts: Mental Illness

Norman Lamb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that people who are in debt and receiving treatment for mental illness are able to recover from illness without accruing further interest or charges on their debts.

John Glen: The Government is committed to establishing an effective breathing space scheme to support vulnerable consumers with their debts, including those who are receiving treatment for mental health issues. A Call for Evidence closed in mid-January and officials are now working on the policy.As part of this work, the Government will look closely at this issue, and meet with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute over the coming weeks.

Treasury: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Robert Jenrick: Neither of Treasury’s non-departmental public bodies: the Royal Mint Advisory Committee or the Office of Budget Responsibility use any external recruitment agencies.

Carer's Allowance: Disability

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125989, whether he plans to take steps to support financially the working parents of disabled children aged 16 to 20 who are ineligible for carers' allowance owing to their earnings status; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The government is committed to supporting parents with caring responsibilities. Parents caring for disabled children aged 16-20 for at least 35 hours a week continue to be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, subject to their earnings. The government is also committed to supporting low earners to earn more. From this April, the National Living Wage will be increased by 4.4% to £7.83, this is equivalent to a pay rise of £2,000 for a full-time worker on the NLW since its introduction.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax-free childcare accounts have been set up for disabled children; and what proportion of those accounts have had at least one payment made from them.

Elizabeth Truss: Regarding the number of Tax-Free Childcare accounts for disabled children, I refer the Honourable Member to the response I gave to the Honourable Member for Manchester Central on 17 January 2018 (122408). Regarding the proportion of these accounts which have had a payment made from them, I refer the Honourable Member to the response I gave on 7 December 2017 (117411).

Public Finance

Mr Nigel Evans: What progress is being made on reducing the deficit.

Mel Stride: The deficit has been reduced by three quarters from its post-war peak in 2010, from 9.9% GDP to 2.3% GDP last year. The OBR’s November forecasts shows the deficit reducing further, to 1.1% of GDP in 2022-23.

Cabinet Office

Social Services: Children

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 16 November 2017, HCWS 258 on social care, whether the Government plans to bring forward proposals on the future of children’s social care and services for children who need palliative care.

Mr David Lidington: The Government’s strategy for children’s social care was set out in ‘Putting Children First’, published in July 2016. A copy is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/554573/Putting_children_first_delivering_vision_excellent_childrens_social_care.pdf In July 2016, the Government set out its commitment to everyone at the end of life in the Government response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care. Our commitment on end of life care set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality and personalisation a reality for all, both adults and children, and to end variation in end of life care across the health system by 2020. On 21 September 2017 we published ‘One year on: the Government response to the review of choice in end of life care’ setting out the good progress made in delivering this over the first year.

David Lidington

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Cabinet committees and sub-committees he (a) chairs and (b) attends.

Mr David Lidington: The list of Cabinet Committees and Implementation Task Forces, including the membership and terms of reference, are regularly published on Gov.uk. An updated list was published on 1st February 2018. The list can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cabinet-committees-system-and-list-of-cabinet-committees

National Security

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons he has established a dedicated national security communications unit; and if he will make a statement.

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) Government department and (b) Minister will have responsibility for the new national security communications unit.

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse will be of the new national security communications unit.

Mr David Lidington: The National Security Capability Review (NSCR) identifies areas where we can do further cross-government work, including as one example on our strategic communications. The NSCR will set out further details when published.

Cabinet Office: Directors

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the lead non-executive director and other non-executive director board members are in his Department.

Mr David Lidington: Holding answer received on 29 January 2018



The non-executive members of the Cabinet Office Board are:- Sir John Parker (Lead)- Sir Ian Cheshire- Catherine Brown

Lobbying: Registration

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of consultant lobbyists registered under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.

Mr David Lidington: The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is engaged with the industry to ensure that those who are required to join the register are aware of their obligation to do so. The Registrar and her office continue to regularly review the register to ensure that it enables transparency of the lobbying process and provide thorough guidance and support via their website to facilitate organisations being compliant with the Register.

Capita

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125908, on Capita, how many such meetings occurred in that time period.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer to PQ125908 given on 5 February 2018

Electricity Generation: Public Sector

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of distributed energy solutions in reducing the long-term energy costs of the Government and public bodies estates.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has deployed distributed energy solutions across its estate and that of its public bodies.

Oliver Dowden: The latest State of the Estate Report 2015-2016 references both the Greening Government Commitments and fulfils the reporting requirements under the Climate Change Act 2008. It reports on energy efficiency performance against government commitments.The next Government Estates Strategy due to be published shortly will continue to ensure the government estate plays its full part in reducing the government's environmental impact as required by the Climate Change Act 2008.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to prevent unsustainable bids being accepted in Government procurement.

Oliver Dowden: UK public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project. It is for individual contracting authorities to ensure that they do not accept bids that are not viable.The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 sets out the way in which Contracting Authorities shall require bidders to explain the price or costs proposed in a tender, where it appears to be abnormally low in relation to the requirement. Where the Contracting Authority considers the explanation and evidence to be unsatisfactory, it can reject the tender.In addition, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 allow contracting authorities to impose requirements ensuring that economic operators possess the necessary economic and financial capacity to perform the contract, and a supplier’s past performance is taken into account.Where appropriate, Open Book Contract Management techniques can be used to closely monitor contract delivery, and to understand bidders' cost models and margins.

Government Departments: Conditions of Employment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of variation in staff contracts on the development of shared services across Government; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Dowden: Allowing for flexibility to vary terms and conditions of employment across departments is a legitimate requirement, as this supports the wide range in operations, scale and diversity across government organisations as separate employers The Government Shared Services Strategy establishes the intention for all government departments to adopt modern technology platforms for their back office, and for departments to 'cluster' around these platforms for increasingly convergent shared service provision.Adoption of these technologies will facilitate greater standardisation of processes, data and ways of working between organisations, while allowing a small degree of flexibility according to necessary organisational and operational context.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet, how many people are in the One Public Estate programme's Pool of Experts; from which parent teams in the Civil Service those people have come; and for each such team which of its members of the Pool of Experts have (a) master planning, (b) feasibility studies, (c) options appraisals, (d) surveyors, (e) design and (f) procurement expertise.

Oliver Dowden: The One Public Estate (OPE) programme is establishing a Pool of Experts to support local OPE partnerships to deliver property-based projects. At present, 23 experts have been accepted into the Pool, as set out below.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many applications have been made for repayable grants by the One Public Estate programme pilot scheme.

Oliver Dowden: Five projects were put forward for Sustainable Pilot Grant funding by One Public Estate partnerships in November 2017. As the programme was substantially over-subscribed, projects put forward for standard grants were also considered for pilot funding where they met the required criteria. As such, more than five Sustainable Pilot Grant awards have been offered. The programme is currently finalising these awards.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many local authority applications to the One Public Estate programme were (a) joint applications and (b) applications by a sole local authority in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Oliver Dowden: The One Public Estate (OPE) programme has held six application rounds since the programme began in 2013. 210 applications have been received in total, including 122 applications made by groups of local authorities, and 88 by sole local authorities. It is important to note that whilst OPE partnerships are local authority-led, they comprise wider public sector partners, including central government departments. A yearly breakdown of applications is shown in the table below.YearSole Authority ApplicationsJoint Applications2013/141202014/152842015/166232016/1723532017/181942Total88122One Public Estate carries out a rigorous assessment process against published criteria. Not all applications submitted were successful.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many applications to the One Public Estate programme included (a) joint ventures, (b) land swaps and (c) development by small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Oliver Dowden: One Public Estate does not typically collect the data requested. The information requested cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) applications and (b) successful applications to the One Public Estate programme include key projects that will be delivered by SMEs.

Oliver Dowden: One Public Estate does not typically collect the data requested regarding small and medium-sized enterprises. The information requested cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to appoint a Chief Data Officer.

Oliver Dowden: We remain committed to making better use of data across government and opening up government data sets where appropriate. We have been developing plans for a Chief Data Officer role and more information will be announced in due course. In the meantime, the Chief Executive of the Civil Service will continue to chair the Data Advisory Board to drive forward this agenda at the most senior level in Government.

Government Departments: Equality

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to support the embedding of diversity and inclusion in single departmental plans.

Oliver Dowden: Single Departmental Plans set out a department’s objectives, how it will use its resources to achieve them and how its performance should be measured. This includes their policies to promote diversity and inclusion in wider society, as well as what they are doing within their own organisation.Departments are expected to set out in their Single Departmental Plans how they intend to increase diversity and inclusion, in support of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and the Civil Service’s ambition is to become the UK’s most inclusive employer. From April 2018, the Civil Service will publish a data dashboard detailing progress on diversity and inclusion. Departments also publish, at least every four years, their equality objectives (which public sector organisations must publish under Public Sector Equality Duty within the Equality Act 2010), These can be found on GOV.UK.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the information note Open Book Contract Management published by the Crown Commercial Service in May 2016, whether Open Book Contract Management is used for strategic suppliers that have triggered one of the high risk criteria in the Strategic Suppliers Risk Management Policy.

Oliver Dowden: The Open Book Contract Management (OBCM) approach is applied to contracts rather than suppliers. The extent of the application of OBCM to each contract is dependent on the risk and complexity of that contract, as set out in the OBCM guidance published with PPN 05/16.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the information note Open Book Contract Management, published by the Crown Commercial Service in May 2016, whether timely payment of subcontractors and the assumed profit margins of those subcontractors are tracked in the Government's open book accounting.

Oliver Dowden: The scope of Open Book Contract Management (OBCM) is dependent on the type of contract and the level to which it is applied.In contracts where there is risk and complexity, and a significant delivery role for sub-contractors, information about payment to them, and the assumed margins, could form part of OBCM activities, where these were considered to be part of the commercial drivers of the contract.However, the overall application of OBCM is determined by the Contracting Authority and the specific nature of the contract in question.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 10 of the information note Open Book Contract Management published by the Crown Commercial Service in May 2016, what steps he has taken to increase the understanding of Open Book.

Oliver Dowden: In order to increase awareness of Open Book Contract Management (OBCM) across government, we have developed and launched an eLearning course; launched this learning tool through announcements from the Government’s Government Commercial Function; and created a specific Knowledge Hub site for Open Book Contract Management.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 13 of the information note Open Book Contract Management, published by the Crown Commercial Service in May 2016, who provided the services of the 3rd party provider; and how much was paid for that service.

Sir Oliver Heald: Procurement Policy Note 05/16 required organisations within the scope of the Procurement Policy Note to make an initial assessment of their contract portfolios to establish where Open Book Contract Management can be applied and to what extent.The services of a third party provider were be made available to any organisation that did not have or did not choose to use internal resources to carry out this assessment.We have no record of any organisation choosing to make use of the third party.

Crown Commercial Service: Recruitment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how long the recruitment of a replacement chief executive of the Crown Commercial Service is planned to take; where that position will be advertised; and for how long those advertisements will run.

Oliver Dowden: The recruitment campaign is currently being planned. This is a key role in the Civil Service and we hope to attract a wide range of talent to apply. Cabinet Office and CCS are committed to following the recruitment principles set out by the Civil Service Commission. The current Chief Executive will be in post until July. We will work to ensure an orderly transition.

Ministry of Defence Police: Pensions

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Ministry of Defence Committee Report 2017, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing an enhanced effective pension age of 60 years for Ministry of Defence Police officers; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Dowden: Treasury and Cabinet Office Ministers have previously given consideration to the merits of introducing an enhanced effective pension age of 60 years for Ministry of Defence Policy Officers, but have not been minded to make such a change.

Ethnic Groups: Equality

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the timetable is for government departments to report on how they plan to respond to the recommendations of the October 2017 Race Disparity Audit.

Oliver Dowden: On the new Ethnicity Facts and Figures website, the Race Disparity Audit brings together thousands of statistics on ethnic disparities covering more than 130 topics in areas including health, education, employment and the criminal justice system. The data shows that there continue to be significant disparities across public services for people of different ethnicities.The Prime Minister has been clear that where a disparity in how people from different ethnic backgrounds cannot be explained by reference to other factors it must be changed. The Government has already launched a programme of work to tackle ethnic disparities in employment, education and criminal justice. Detailed analytical work is underway across departments to consider the disparities highlighted by the Audit, and further announcements about action will be made in due course.

Employment: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate her Department has made of the number of disabled people employed in each sector of the economy.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 67.18 KB)

Suicide

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the rate of suicide for each socio-economic classification in each of the last 15 years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 68.71 KB)

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Voting Rights

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department plans to mark the centenary of women getting the right to vote in 1918.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade is dedicated to achieving gender equality in the workplace. The department plans to participate in the nationwide Suffrage Flag Relay, organised by the Cross-Government Women's Network as part of the Civil Service celebrations for the suffrage centenary.The Permanent Secretary, Antonia Romeo, participated in the Civil Service launch event of cross-government centenary celebrations on 7th February 2018 at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.The Women's Network within the Department for International Trade is working with our central communications directorate to organise a series of events to celebrate and commemorate the centenary of women's suffrage as well as International Women's Day on 8th March 2018.

Trade Remedies Authority: Staff

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to Answer of 7 December to Question 118220 on trade agreements; arbitration, which which counterparts in other government departments and existing arms-length bodies his Department held discussions with on the appropriate number of staff needed for the trade remedies authority.

Greg Hands: The organisation design process to determine the precise capacity and capability requirements for the Trade Remedies Authority is ongoing. To inform the process we have held discussions with: the Competition & Markets Authority; the Department for Education, regarding the Office for Students; and the Department for Work and Pensions, regarding the upcoming Single Financial Guidance Body.

Trade Remedies

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to Answer of 7 December to Question 118220 on trade agreements: arbitration, which other international systems his Department is reviewing.

Greg Hands: The organisation design process to determine the precise capacity and capability requirements for the Trade Remedies Authority is ongoing. To inform this specific process we have reviewed the structures, caseloads and resources of the Australian, Canadian, EU and United States trade remedies systems.

Arms Trade: Sri Lanka

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that arms sold to the Government of Sri Lanka are not used to perpetrate human rights violations in that country.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford to the answer I gave to my Hon. Friend for Welwyn Hatfield on 23 January 2018, UIN: 124349

Borders

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what information he holds on international borders with no customs union and no border infrastructure; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: We have considered a range of options for implementing new border arrangements and have looked to examples from around the world.However, the circumstances that apply to different international borders are unique and so the UK won't be seeking to copy models used by other countries, but rather seek approaches that reflect the unique and special relationship the UK has with the EU.The precise form taken will depend on the outcome of negotiations.

Trade Agreements

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which non-EU countries that have a trade agreement with the EU have provided his Department with a commitment to maintain those arrangements without any changes that would require negotiations between that party and the UK during the transition period after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 27 February 2018



As a priority, we are currently working with both the EU and partner countries to ensure continuity of the effects of EU trade agreements with non-EU countries during the Implementation Period.Alongside these discussions, we have engaged with over 70 countries to ensure continuity of trading arrangements beyond the Implementation Period and all partner countries have agreed to work with us to ensure continuity. This is a technical exercise to replicate the effects of current trade agreements.

Department for International Trade: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 27 February 2018



The Department for International Trade currently has no non-departmental public bodies.

Trade Agreements

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions the Government has had with the EU on conditions under which the UK can begin negotiating trade agreements with countries with whom the EU has trade agreements; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: As an EU Member State, discussions we have about trade with our partner countries are limited by our obligations under the Common Commercial Policy and our duty of sincere co-operation. Discussions have been focussed on securing continuity, not on a renegotiation of terms. The European Commission is aware of these discussions and has not raised any objections.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Hacking

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people affected by the cyber attack reported by the BBC on 11 February 2018 in which hackers took control of other people's computers to mine cryptocurrency.

Margot James: The Department does not have an estimate of the number of people affected. The incident is being investigated by technical experts at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC.) The NCSC judges that any effect would have been temporary.

Hacking

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information the Government holds on the amount of personal data which was stolen as a result of the recent BrowseAloud hack.

Margot James: The National Cyber Security Centre is not aware of anything that would indicate that any personal data was stolen as a result of this incident.

Social Media: Codes of Practice

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how he plans to encourage uptake and monitor compliance of the code of practice provided for by s103 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 by social media companies.

Margot James: Implementation of the social media code of practice, as required under the Digital Economy Act (2017), will be the first step of this process. The consultation on this, and measures proposed in the Internet Safety Strategy, closed on 7 December. In her speech on 6 February, the Prime Minister confirmed that the Government would be bringing forward the social media code of practice as proposed in the green paper. The code of practice will set out guidance about what social media providers should do in relation to bullying conduct on their platforms. We will be setting out next steps to achieve the code of practice in our Government response which will be published in the spring.

Press: Complaints

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has held with (a) the Independent Press Standards Organisation and (b) Impress on the (i) rights and (ii) routes of complaint for groups allegedly subject to press discrimination.

Margot James: Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders, including IPSO and IMPRESS, to discuss a range of issues.

Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to publish a Cyber Security Skills Strategy.

Margot James: We will publish our Cyber Security Skills Strategy in 2018. The strategy will set out how the Government will ensure the UK has the sustained supply of cyber security talent it needs. This builds on the work we are already delivering including developing an overarching cyber security professional body, the recently announced Cyber Security Immediate Impact Fund pilot aimed at increasing the volume and diversity of adults joining the UK cyber security profession, our Cyber Discovery programme for talented 14-18yr olds and support for future cyber security talent currently going through higher or further education.

National Cyber Security Centre

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 17 of the Interim Cyber Security Science and Technology Strategy, how frequently the National Cyber Security Centre will publish advice on emerging technologies; who will be consulted on the preparation of such advice; and which technologies will be the subject of the reports.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish a cyber security research plan.

Margot James: DCMS are working closely with partners across industry, academia and government, including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and UKRI to develop a Cyber Security Research Plan in 2018, setting out Government's priorities for supporting cyber security research that is in the national interest. The NCSC regularly publishes advice where there is an opportunity to improve the secure use of both new and established technology in the UK, and draws on technical expertise along with input from a range of partners

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department had with the national centre for data in Newcastle when determining the remit and location of the national data ethics centre.

Margot James: Officials have been in contact with staff at the National Innovation Centre for Data in Newcastle to discuss the new Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. The remit and location of the CDEI remain subject to ongoing discussions, and officials will continue to engage with NICD along with other stakeholders as these discussions progress.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Waste Management

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to comply with the Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Regulations and to reduce the wastage by the House of goods covered by those regulations.

Tom Brake: There is a wide range of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) disposed of from the Parliamentary Estate. These include, but are not limited to IT wastes (computers, display screens, iPads, printers etc.), ‘white goods’ (desk fans, mini fridges, kettles etc.) and maintenance-based waste (fluorescent tubes, electrical fittings, emergency system batteries, catering fridges etc.), and includes hazardous and non-hazardous items.A licensed contractor, Bywater Ltd, are engaged to dispose of end of life or non-operational white goods and maintenance WEEE. They use two specialist subcontractors who operate Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities (AATF) to ensure that WEEE waste is processed to the highest standards of licensing available from the Environment Agency. Non-hazardous WEEE is processed by Total Waste Management Ltd in Basildon, Essex, and hazardous WEEE is processed by Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.For IT WEEE, Parliamentary Digital Services use the services of a fully licensed contractor, RDC, who likewise operate an AATF for those IT items which are at end of life or non-operational. For items that can be re-used once all data has been erased (to certified security standards), RDC operates a remarketing service aimed at maximising the re-use of IT equipment no longer required by Parliament.Parliament is currently in the process of developing an electrical heater policy to reduce usage of these across the Estate. One associated benefit of this policy will be a reduction in electrical heaters being disposed of in our white goods WEEE waste stream.

Parliamentary Estate: Waste Management

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125385, what the reason is for Parliament's general waste not being separated; and whether the Commission plans to take steps to ensure that such waste is separated in order to ensure compliance with the demands of the waste hierarchy.

Tom Brake: The term “general waste” refers to non-recyclable items. Instructions for our general waste bins in Parliament are that only non-recyclables and contaminated waste should be deposited in this waste stream. Therefore, there is no value in segregating the elements of this stream. General waste is separated from all other waste that Parliament produces and, as general waste, it remains segregated as such through to its final disposal at an Energy from Waste facility. This is the fourth layer of the waste hierarchy, and the highest level of the waste hierarchy at which such non-recyclables can be disposed of.All recyclable items have already been removed at this stage as they will have been disposed of in the dry mixed recycling bins or glass bins located in offices and waste hubs.We focus our efforts on encouraging individuals in offices to segregate their dry mixed recycling from general waste, so there should be no reason to further segregate the general waste. As previously stated, the general waste is sent to an Energy from Waste facility whereas the recycling will go to a Materials Recovery Facility.Parliament’s Environment Team and waste contractor carry out audits to identify any pattern of recyclable items being incorrectly disposed of to the general waste stream.

Parliament: Exhibitions

Jo Swinson: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reasons the House authorities decided not to choose the Southmead Project Wall of Silence exhibition to be displayed in Parliament.

Tom Brake: Holding answer received on 23 February 2018



Exhibitions in Parliament’s Upper Waiting Hall offer an opportunity for a variety of topics to be explored in a balanced and non-contentious way. Exhibits must therefore meet the following criteria, that:“their content should not be of a contentious nature, contain items of advertising, commercial interest or material likely to give offence; nor should they contain material intended to further the aims of any political party or group.”Since being first approved, concerns have been raised in relation to the ‘Wall of Silence’ exhibition, which was due to be displayed in April 2018 in the Upper Waiting Hall. For this reason the Administration Committee decided, on 29 January 2018, to withdraw support for the exhibition because it did not meet the criterion of being uncontentious.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were employed directly by her Department on zero-hours contracts in each of the last eight years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: None of my Department’s staff have been employed on zero-hours contracts in the last eight years. It is worth adding that it is a Conservative Government that has taken action to reform zero-hours contracts, unlike the previous Labour Government supported by the hon Member.